


Octavia and the Wonders of Vecurilia

by highxflame



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternative Universe - Kingdom, Fluff, Gen, Magical Realism, No Smut, Original Fiction, Romance, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-09
Updated: 2018-11-27
Packaged: 2019-08-20 14:28:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 25,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16557488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/highxflame/pseuds/highxflame
Summary: On her sixteenth birthday, Octavia Honeyknock is told about her father's origins and discovers that she has royal,magicalblood.When the portal that connects their worlds is opened, she must decide if it's worth staying in the foreign land to reign over the magical kingdom or to stay home on earth.





	1. Happy Birthday, Octavia

**Author's Note:**

> Unedited.

'Mundane' was the word that perfectly described Octavia Honeyknock's life, and she was pleased to say so. Being mundane was what she was used to, it was comfortable, it was safe. It was very pleasing indeed, not having to wrangle a crazy life of adventures and unknowable journeys filled with potential danger. Yes, she was very pleased to have a mundane life.

And this day wasn't so mundane, today was her birthday. Her sixteenth birthday, she'll add with a charming smile and a flip of her lilac hair. Her unusual hair color was the only thing that wasn't normal about her, she was born with this unnatural hair color, a pale lilac with a thick streak of magenta growing from the crown at the top of her head.

Today would be filled with fun, but not too much fun. She'd planned to have a nice dinner with her friends and family at her side and she'd cut into a heart-shaped cake with  _'Happy Birthday, Octavia'_  written on it, then she'd finish her homework and watch a movie with her parents before she went to bed. Most of her days were like this, without the pleasantries of sweets and gifts of course.

She peaked her eyes open, her gaze falling on the digital clock on her bedside table, the red digits telling her it was  _'08:03 A.M'._  Octavia sat up in her bed and yawned, stretching her arms out and rolling her neck to release the built-up tension from her uncomfortable sleep. A chubby little Persian kitten jumped onto her bed, crawling to her lap and rubbing its head up against her chest. "Hello, munchkin," Octavia murmured to the kitten, scratching behind its ears and running her hand down its back and enjoying the feeling of the soft coat of fur under her fingers.

"You really must go, I have a lot to do today," she scolded the kitten after weakly attempting to push it out of her lap for several minutes. Octavia gave up, sighing as the kitten finally released its claws from her duvet and curled up, looking like a delightfully self-righteous little bundle of soft white fur. "I'm sixteen today, munchkin. I've been wishing for this day for a while now but it just seems so weird to me now. Sixteen..." the lilac-haired girl said aloud to no one in particular, perhaps she was really speaking to her kitten, and perhaps her kitten was listening intentively without her knowledge like a shrink.

Octavia continued to pet the little ball of fur in her lap until her alarm finally went off at  _'08:15 A.M'_ , she gently shifted the kitten off of her lap and she stood to look at herself in the mirror. She was shorter than the rest of her classmates but her figure was taut and strong, self-discipline has always been a permanent part of her spirit and demeanor so she did well to keep her figure fit.

Although at times, her strangely colored hair would make it seem to others that she was a soft-hearted girl with a feminine attitude and persona, but that was far from the truth. Octavia was a poignant case of "Don't judge a book by its cover".

She played with her hair in the mirror, it was nice and wavy, accentuated perfectly by its shoulder length. The contrast of her tan skin sometimes seemed to clash with her lilac colored haired but her hair was one of the only strange things about her that she'd proudly accept, although her feelings change about it every once in a while. It was not at all mundane, much to her dismay, but she'd realized that she would have to at least gratify something true about her identity, and that was her strange hair.

After showering, brushing her teeth and applying some light makeup, she walked into her closet to find something perfect to wear for this special day. A mustard colored turtleneck and high-waisted 'mom' jeans with a thin black belt would be comfortable yet fashionable, some sensible white socks and white converse shoes would suffice. Efficient and congenial. Just the way she liked.

Finished with combing her hair, she decided to put it in a half-up-half-down style, this way the streak of magenta in her hair would be concealed, having to accept the pale lilac itself was enough on its own but the magenta was a push-over. It made her feel terribly insecure, having to be born so  _strange_  looking.

She rushed down the stairs and met her mother, Lydia, and step-father, William, at the dining room table for breakfast. "Happy birthday, sweetie!" her mother squealed cheerfully when her daughter came into view, embracing her in an affectionate hug. "Thanks, mom," Octavia said with a warm smile, hugging her mother back tightly.

"Happy birthday, you old bat," her step-father said jokingly, bringing her in for a hug. Octavia wrapped her arms around him and laughed, "Me? An old bat? Oh boy, you certainly haven't looked in a mirror recently," this made him chuckle and she let go from the hug, softly punching him in the arm. 

He feigned hurt, pretending that the hit had affected him deeply, "My goodness, your hateful words are... Killing me...  _Blegh_ ," the old man slouched against the doorway and faked death causing the young girl to roll her eyes and brush past him to get to the dining table. "And you're not even going to revive me this time! Geez, sixteen-year-olds these days, am I right?" her step-father jokingly said to her mother Lydia who was shaking her head at him with a great big smile.

"Oh you two, quit horsing around! Enjoy this breakfast I've made," her mother turned to her, "I've even made your favorite, sweetie, chocolate chip waffles and hashbrowns." Octavia hummed with delight at the scrumptious meal in front of her, she kissed her mother on the cheek and thanked her.

Those waffles and hash browns had to be the best thing she'd ever eaten in her entire life and she sat back in her chair, patting her stomach and murmuring "Mother, you've truly outdone yourself," in a blissful sigh. Her mother looked pleased with herself, smiling at her daughter.

"You've got a long day ahead of you, Octavia," William said after finishing his meal, "So what's first on the list today?".

"I'm going to the movies with Lilibeth then I'll be at the museum at around... 3 o'clock, and I'll be back home at around 6, is that okay?" Octavia said, "Absolutely, darling, just don't be late for your dinner, okay? Is everyone still coming?".  
  
"Oh Lilibeth can't come anymore, she's got to go on some trip, I don't really know, but she can come to the movies and the museum with me which is why I'm doing that with instead." Octavia sipped at her cold orange juice, watching her mother for a response.

Lydia nodded understandingly, "That's okay, sweetie, anyways we'll be here when you get home. Happy birthday," Lydia stood to embrace her daughter in another hug, she then licked her thumb and rubbed at the corner of Octavia's lip where there had been dried egg and this made the young girl groan, "Ugh, mother!" Lydia stepped back, laughing. "Oh, you. You'll always be my baby," Octavia smiled half-heartedly, rolling her eyes. "I know," Octavia smiled, hugging her mother again, William only laughed at the ordeal happening in front of him.

Octavia went back up to her room and collected her brown leather crossbody bag, shoving her phone and wallet into it and patting her chubby little kitten on the head one last time before she left. She ran back into the room to collect her round-framed glasses with yellow lenses, not as sensible as the rest of her outfit but she thought it looked neat and that it would fit her aesthetic, which it did.

"Don't forget your jacket, Octavia, it's going to rain today," William shouted from across the house and Octavia yelled back at him with thanks for the warning, taking her water-proof jacket off the coat hanger.

Outside her house in the driveway, her friend waited in a compact, baby blue car. Lilibeth was a tall girl, her brown hair was twirled into wild curls and she looked like she wouldn't be the type of girl that Octavia would be friends with, but they balanced each other out. Lilibeth's wild spirit weighed equal to Octavia's responsible tenor and they enjoyed a lot of the same things, they were perfect for each other. Although they were an 'odd match', her mother would always say.

The birthday girl hopped into her friend's car and off they went. They went to the movies and saw a screening for one of Octavia's favorite movies, Coraline. After the movie finished, they went for lunch at a local bakery to wait for the other members of their friend group to show up so they could all go to the museum together.

"So... Any boys you've been talking to lately?" Lilibeth asked, eyeing Octavia curiously as she sipped at her pink lemonade through a paper straw. Octavia blushed, wide-eyed at the question but it was in the norm considering it  _was_  Lilibeth after all. The lilac-haired girl nibbled at her cookie, "Um, sadly not. But I'm not worried about boys at the moment, Lily, I'm worried about the exams that are coming up," Lilibeth groaned at the mention of the upcoming exams, a look of distress on her face.

The brunette girl put her cup down, "Please don't, I don't even want to hear about exams right now," she brought her hands to her temples and sighed. "You haven't prepped yet, have you?" Octavia giggled at Lilibeth's 'duh' face.

"Well, why not?" Octavia asked, "Joey's been nagging me a lot and I hate ignoring him," Lilibeth admitted, sipping at her drink again. "Should I dump?"

Octavia pondered on the blunt question, her input as a best-friend would mean a lot to Lilbeth but she didn't want to dictate her romantic life like this so she gave the best piece of advice she could, "You don't have to dump him for being... As clingy as he is, he just loves you very much but that shouldn't be prioritized over your school work," Lilibeth nodded, listening to her friend intently.

"You're right, Tavvy. Pray, tell, is this why you don't have a boyfriend yet? You've had like 4 guys ask you out, even  _Liam_ asked you out and you said no, which is crazy to me, you know," Lilibeth ranted "And you've been in love with him since 7th grade." Octavia snickered. Liam was the most popular guy in their school, and there's no reason to wonder why. He's tall, smart, kind and his personality is beyond amazing, Octavia's been drawn to him since she first set her eyes on his sandy blonde hair and his Prince Charming smile.

Octavia brushed her hair behind her ear and smiled at the thought of him, "That's exactly why. Being a lovesick puppy when there are more important things going on in life, I just won't be able to focus and you know me, I'm all about focus," the girls laughed together and they heard the bell on the door ring meaning someone had entered the bakery.

It was their friends, Monroe and Milly, they looked around the bakery for a second until they found who they were looking for. "Ahhh! My girls!" Milly squealed, running to the two seated girls with her arms spread wide open. "Oh my god, Milly, calm down," Monroe said, "People are looking." Milly hugged Octavia and Lilibeth before sitting down at the table with them.

"Then let them look, Money," Milly said pridefully, raising her chin and throwing her hands in the air earning her a lot of glances from people sitting around the bakery, some of them looking annoyed. "Hello, everyone! Glorious day, isn't it? This is my friend Octavia and it's her birthday today!" she exclaimed and Octavia was equally amused and horrified, rushing to grab her arms to pull them down. A few people wished her a happy birthday and Octavia smiled meekly, nodding and thanking them quietly. Monroe pulled out his own chair, flipping it around and hopping on it backward-sitting style.

"God, you're so embarrassing sometimes," Monroe sneered and Milly snapped to look at him, "You think I'm embarrassing? Look at the way you're sitting," she said confidently, this made Lilibeth snicker. Monroe was a reserved lad, smart and calculating but very caring and kind on the inside, his raven black hair slicked back and his glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. Milly was an eccentric girl, very loud and confident and her fiery red hair and bright green eyes were a sight to see.

"Oh! This is for you, happy birthday, gorgeous," Monroe smiled, handing Octavia a blue paper bag. Inside the bag was a medium-sized jewelry box and the label said it was from his own mother's jewelry store. Octavia's jaw dropped when she saw what was in the box, looking up at her friends who were all smiling at her.

"I can't believe it..." she muttered, "It's beautiful!", it was a silver charm bracelet from Monroe's mothers' jewelry shop and there were a few charms on it already.

The first charm was a heart and it said  _'FROM L+W TO YOU'._ It was very obvious that it was from her mother and step-father, Lydia and William, and it made her heart melt. Octavia examined the bracelet further, viewing the other charms.

**A silver star that had the word _'Tavvy_ ' engraved into it, that was Octavia's nickname.**

**A snowflake with the word _'Lily'_  engraved, this was the nickname for Lilibeth.**

**A small turtle and on its belly was the word _'Money'_ , that was Monroe.**

**A little gumboot with the word _'Mills'_  engraved into the sole, that was Milly's nickname.**

Octavia's eyes began to well with tears of joy and she sniffled, compelled by her speechlessness, she stood to bring them all into an awkwardly placed group hug over the table but at that moment she didn't care. Sitting back down, she spoke, "I don't know what to say, this is just so amazing. Thank you guys so much, this means a lot to me," she swiped away a tear and smiled at them all, her heart was truly full of happiness at that moment.

"It's just a reminder," Monroe said, "That we'll always be here for you," and this made Octavia pout, she willed away the oncoming tears. Her core was warmed by the beautiful gesture and words they said to her, she felt so grateful to have them in her life, they were truly the best people she had ever met. The reserved Monroe, wild Milly, rambunctious Lilibeth and sensible Octavia. An unexpected bout of friendship, she wouldn't trade it for the world and she hoped that it would last a lifetime.

"You better shut your mouth before you make me cry again, you bastard!" Octavia muttered jokingly with anger, sniffling as Monroe laughed. Milly helped to close the clasp on the bracelet and Octavia looked at it with wonder, twisting her wrist around the look at all the charms dangle together on the silver rope.

Monroe stood up, collecting Lilibeth's pink lemonade drink and taking a sip of it. "Alright let's go, I wanna see that little treehouse with the Gorilla inside, haven't seen it since I was a kid," Lilibeth was, of course, talking about one of the exhibits at the museum and that reminded her that they indeed needed to go. Octavia was most excited to see the marine life section where the floor was glass and you could see live animals crawling beneath your feet, and the room was illuminated by a blue light which only helped to exemplify the experience.

After wrangling each other into the car, they arrived at the museum. It stood tall, strong, and wide, a huge banner flowing from the top saying something about a new exhibit opening up. Monroe dumped Lilibeth's now empty drink into a nearby trash can and they walked inside. Of course, they first of all had to find the gorilla exhibit that Lilibeth mentioned and she was sullen to find out that she could no longer fit inside. The exhibit was only meant for children, after all. After much pouting, they all ventured to the marine life section and it was bigger than she remembered, or perhaps it was expanded, she wasn't sure.

She watched as crabs, eels, and lionfish swam and crawled along the faux sea floor beneath her feet, watching them with deep curiosity and wonder. "Beautiful creatures, aren't they?" Octavia smiled, watching as the lionfish swam circles under her and she looked up, breathing in a bit too quickly after seeing who it was that had spoken to her. "Y−yeah, they're... Ethereal," she said, her eyes meeting his blue ones, which looked breath-taking in the bask of the blue lights from the exhibit.

It was Liam, he was towering over her, holding a pamphlet in his hand. "Ethereal. I like that word," he smiled at her and inside she was rendered into a lovesick schoolgirl, all giggles and lovey-dovey eyes. "Me too," Octavia said quickly, not sure what to say to him. They looked into each other's eyes for just a few seconds longer, a short fest of mutual admiration.

"I hear it's your birthday," Liam smirked, tilting his head in interest. Of course, he had heard Milly shouting it out, something she'd been doing in every exhibit they went into and every time, Octavia felt more embarrassed than the last. "Yup, the big 1-6," she said, popping her lips and rolling on the heels of her feet. "Well, Octavia Honeyknock, happy birthday," he said smoothly, reaching his arm out and grabbing her hand, she felt her knees go weak. 

"Thanks, Liam," she said, her eyes still connected with his and she didn't want the moment to ever end. She was rethinking the decision to focus on her schoolwork instead of nurturing a love life when Lilibeth stalked up behind her and threw her arm around Octavia's shoulder, bringing her out of her daze. The lilac-haired girl felt the taller boy's hand slip out of her gentle hold and she felt momentarily vacant. "My, my, my, what do we have here?" Lilibeth said slyly, tugging Octavia closer to her.

Liam laughed softly, "Hello, Lily," he brought his hand up to wave the pamphlet he had been holding, "I was just wondering if I could steal the birthday girl for a second to show her the new exhibit," Lilibeth was considering his offer to let her friend go with him, she was looking at Octavia's face for any sign of panic or an interpretation of  _"get me out of here!"_  but she saw nothing of the sort.

"Well you guys go ahead, we'll catch up with you in a bit. We're just trying to figure out how Milly stole a crab from that tank over there," Octavia was silently bewildered, peering over Lilibeth's shoulder to see that Monroe was holding the crab and berating Milly. The sight wasn't strange to Octavia at all, Milly was an unpredictable fireball but after seeing how huge the tank was and seeing Monroe slap the lid on the top of the tank, the lilac-haired girl was baffled as to how the crab's freedom was even possible.

"Yeah, I'm just gonna go with Liam now," Octavia muttered, her eyes not leaving her arguing friends next to the crustacean display. "Right, wish me luck!" Lilibeth said while throwing a thumbs-up into the air before skipping away to meet her quarreling companions. Liam, too, was looking at her friends trying to figure out how to put the crab back into the sealed tank.

"Strange, but very amusing," Liam smiled at Octavia and she couldn't help herself as she smiled back. The taller boy offered his arm to her and she gladly linked her arm with his, walking closely side-by-side away from the crystal blue marine life displays.

The new exhibit that Liam had mentioned, and what must have been on the gigantic banner at the entrance of the museum and on the pamphlet in his hand, was a nod to historical romance and famous flouts of love. They walked through the huge rose-ridden archway and into a room with reds and pinks on the walls, soft jazz was playing in the background and the two of them walked past art and photographs, the most prominent of them all was a giant print of  _'The Kissing Sailor'_.

Octavia stopped walking to look at it in wonder, Liam stopping next to her and patting her hand that was softly clinging to his elbow. "Do you know the history behind that photo?" he asked her and she smirked, "I do."

He turned his head to look down at her as she continued to stare at the photograph, "She wasn't even a nurse, you know, she was a dental assistant. He'd just randomly grabbed her and he kissed her, he grabbed her because he was so impressed by the nurses he had met during the war that in his drunken state, he grabbed that woman who looked like she was a nurse and planted that famous kiss on her lips," she said without a falter, "And what most people don't know is that she didn't even want to kiss him. If only this particular picture could give more than a 1000 words."

They stood together in a comfortable silence, gazing at the photo together. "The history is one thing but what you see when you first see it, it's just pure passion," Octavia murmured, subconsciously leaning onto Liam. "When you talk, you just take the words right out of my mouth but I don't mind because I'd much rather hear your voice than anything else," Liam said quietly, just above a whisper but she was so close to him that every word he said was crystal clear. She blushed furiously, gulping and unknowingly gripping tighter onto his arm.

"BOO!" a loud voice shouted from behind her and Octavia jumped into Liam's arms, quickly turning to see that her group of friends were behind them, and just as quickly as she had spun around had she jumped out of his comforting hold. She straightened her clothes out, clasping at her chest in relief, "Bloody hell, why are you like this?" she jokingly said to Milly, who seemed to be the main culprit of the prank, to which her friend just laughed and shrugged. 

"Liam!" Octavia heard someone call out and she looked to the other end of the room to see a short, older woman that was waving at them, she'd seen her before, it was his mother. Liam turned to Octavia, "Listen, I've gotta go now, just want you to know that even though it was short, it was lovely," he grabbed her hand again. "Happy birthday, Octavia Honeyknock."

She watched as he walked away and met with his mother, and before he left, he turned back one last time and sent her one of his charming smiles and waved goodbye. "You have  _got_  to tell me everything!" Lilibeth grabbed her arm and Octavia rolled her eyes with a grin, "Okay, fine. But we've gotta go to the nature section first and take pictures with that wall of pretty flowers," she said and her friend nodded eagerly.

"He's like one of those boys from those YA novels that always call the main protagonists' by their full name," Octavia heard Milly say to Monroe and that made Lilbeth snort. "Well, she's not wrong," Lilibeth said to Octavia and they laughed together.

They ventured through the entire museum, Monroe doing his best to control Milly as Octavia spilled the beans to Lilibeth. The brunette girl was telling Octavia about how they looked so sweet together and how Liam's natural reaction to when they surprised them in the Love exhibit was to take her into his arms, the mention of that made Octavia flush. They'd pretty much finished their tour of the museum and were just walking among the gardens at the back of the museum by themselves, talking about life. "I've got to be home soon so I'll drop you all off at Tavvy's house," Lilibeth said, "Oh thank goodness, 'cus I am starving," Monroe chipped in, patting his stomach.

After a few more minutes of talking about everything and nothing, they arrived back at Octavia's house pre-dusk, and the sky was grey and gloomy as it was beginning to rain they all hopped out of the baby blue car and they gave each other their last goodbyes to Lilibeth for the night. Octavia was the last to hug her, Lilibeth murmuring a "Happy birthday, I love you," into her ear and Octavia told her she loved her too, and with that, she was gone. She already felt solemn from her absence.

Inside the house, it was warm and the dining table was decked with a glorious dinner. Chicken Ceaser salad with poached eggs and garlic bread on the side  _and a sneaky glass of wine_. "Woah! Ranger Ridley, hey!" Monroe said, he and Milly shaking hands with her grandfather. Ranger Philip Ridley was her father's adopted father, he was a cool National Park Ranger and he often took Octavia out to patrol the grounds with him when she was little. He also goes to their school sometimes to give demonstrations on how to handle wildlife, which is how Monroe and Milly know him. Not only from that, seeing as they're at her house every other weekend.

"Hey Nana, hey Pop," Octavia said, bringing her grandparents in for a warm hug. "I hope my little munchkin hasn't been begging for food at your doorstep again," Octavia said with a giggle and her grandmother Delilah shook her head with a smile, "That little ball of fur hasn't come to me in 3 days, well behaved now, you better bet," the birthday girl nodded at her grandmother and they, including her grandfather, talked more about their cats. Octavia's little kitten was one from a litter that Nana Delilah's cat had mothered, and after weeks of begging, Octavia's mother had finally relented and allowed her to have a kitten from the litter.

It was incredibly convenient that Octavia's grandparents lived right next door, so if need be, she could always drop the kitten back off to their mother but the lilac-haired girl was beginning to think that she'd grown fond of the boisterous little ball of fluff that she got to call her own.

Delilah was a short woman with light brown hair, which was freckled with grays, and she was always a warm person. Delilah married her grandfather Philip when she was a little girl, his first wife having passed away when Octavia was a baby, but despite that, Delilah and Philip still spoke fondly of her memory.

Milly and Monroe were engaged in a lively conversation with Octavia's step-father, William, she overheard them talking about spectacles from the museum and the tales must've been truly enthralling as William was laughing whole-heartedly and slapping his knee. They must've been talking about the crab incident.

"If everyone could join me in the dining room now, thank you." Octavia heard her mother call out and everyone was beckoned to the room filled with delicious food. Everyone took their seat at the dining room table, Octavia being seated between her best friends. They all ate, engaging in lively conversation with each other, Octavia was giddy in her seat, filling her friends in about her encounter with Liam and she listened to them talk about their doings at the museum without her.

It had eventually just turned to Octavia and Milly talking about boys as Monroe turned away from them and started talking to her grandfather Philip about the wildlife exhibits he saw at the museum.

Octavia could still hear the hum of the music from the living room area and she swayed gently to the beat, right then her mother Lydia stood, clearing her throat and raising a glass with everyone following suit.

"To my beautiful daughter, whom I love very much. I'm sure I speak on the behalf of everyone here tonight when I say that watching you grow up and excel at everything you do has been the most wonderful thing to witness, and I hope that in your bright future that you achieve all your goals, succeeding in whatever it is you wish to pursue in life. I'm so proud to have you as my daughter, and I wish you the  _happiest_  of all birthdays, my love." Lydia said with adoration, "Happy birthday!" she finished, raising her glass high and everyone at the table was loud as they all wished her a happy birthday. 

Octavia was truly humming with love and felt cherished at that moment, the table was cleared and her step-father William had brought out a heart-shaped cheesecake with a red and white marble glaze, a thick sparkler jammed into the top of the right lump of the heart. The sparkles illuminated the black writing on it which said  _'Happy Birthday, Octavia'_ , just as she had envisioned it to be.

The night finished with them eating cheesecake together, sitting around and talking with each other while the music played in the background. Her grandparents and parents were talking with each other, deep in conversation and Octavia sat on a lounging chair with Monroe in her lap and Milly sitting on the arm of the chair to her left. "I've had such an amazing night with you guys, I had so much fun," Octavia said, "Can't wait to finish my homework. Just wanna hop on my laptop and complete my itinerary," she finished dreamily, jabbing at her cheesecake subconsciously.

Monroe snorted, "I'm gonna pretend like you didn't just say you wanted to do homework right now," Octavia slapped him on the back lightly and he laughed, "You can't say that to me with your boney ass cutting into my lap," she sneered jokingly, immediately ceasing as she saw her mother give her a look. "I don't know, Money, maybe she's trying to take her mind off of a certain  _someone._ " Milly chirped, wiggling her eyebrows at them and Octavia reddened at her insinuation.

"Yeah, Mills, maybe you're right," Monroe said mockingly, intending to jab his elbow onto her shoulder but instead elbowing her boob. Octavia groaned and slapped his back even harder, "I will literally throw you out a window," she threatened him with her plastic fork and Milly fell off the chair, doubling over. "You guys are the worst, you can't tease me like this on my  _birthday_ ," she pouted, leaning back in the chair and shoving a fork full of cheesecake into her gob.

"Hey! You can't use the birthday card during banter, that's a bannable offense," Milly said with squinted eyes, her nostrils flared as she looked deep into Octavia's eyes and the birthday girl flicked a piece of the glazing on her cheesecake into Milly's hair in retaliation, but the red-headed girl didn't take her eyes away as she licked the glazing out of her hair without a care.

After a few more minutes of teasing and playful punching with a dash of meaningless threats, her friends had left to go home with Tupperware filled with left-overs, and Octavia lounged freely on the couch as her grandparents sat across from her, the young girl could faintly hear her step-father cleaning up the mess from their dinner and dessert, normally she'd chip in to help but they forced her to sit down and relax as it was her "special day".

Octavia saw her grandmother Delilah stand to kiss her grandfather on the forehead before bidding a farewell to her, "Going home already, Nana?" Octavia quipped after hugging her. "I'm afraid so, dear, I've got a busy day tomorrow, lot's of errands to run." Delilah wagged a finger in her face and Octavia nodded understandingly, hugging her one more time. Today she'd hugged more people than she thought she'd ever liked to but she was growing fond of the intimate yet informal act.

"I suppose you're going too, Pop?" Philip stood, shaking his head, "Not yet, your mother and I have much to talk about," Octavia eyed him curiously then shrugged at him, she then helped her grandmother Delilah to the door. "I'll see you tomorrow, Nana," Octavia said and the older women pecked her on the cheek one last time. "I hope you've had a wonderful birthday, dear," and the young girl nodded at her and waved goodbye as she went out the door and into the rain.

She closed the door and jumped back onto the couch. "Hello, my sweetums," Octavia heard her mother say, coming into the room and sitting down next to her. "William's gone to bed, an early morning for him tomorrow," Lydia said and Octavia nodded to indicate that she was listening, "Your grandfather and I need to talk to you about something."

Octavia froze, concerned about being in trouble but her mother reassured her that she wasn't. "No, we're actually going to talk about your father." Philip said, "Oh," was the only that the young girl could manage to say. They'd not told her anything about her father except for his name and she'd seen a few pictures here and there littered about in photo albums, if she didn't know any better she'd say they were trying to erase his memory. And she was going to find out that she truly didn't know any better, not that she could've guessed it anyway.

"Now that you're sixteen, we think it's the perfect time to tell you the whole truth, we'll tell you about his story and if you have any questions you can ask them afterward. But before we start," Philip began, Lydia nodding to every word he said, "We stress that this is the truth, because what we're going to tell you will sound like fiction." Octavia furrowed her eyebrows and in her mind, she went deep in thought, how could it possibly sound fictional? She'd imagined that her father may have run off when she was born or died in a tragic accident, those things were feasible to her and they seemed like the only possible things that could have happened, and they were good reasons for why they wouldn't tell her anything about him. Maybe not the death thing, they surely would have told her about that.

"Er, okay," she said, her mother and grandfather looked at each other and glanced back at the young girl who was eyeing them curiously.

"Your father... He's not... Of this world, I'd say," her grandfather began to say and Octavia sat there dumbstruck, "I found him at Mango park when he was a child and after that, your grandmother Lucile and I took him in as our own and raised him in that very same house next door," Lydia had taken Octavia's hands in her own and held them there as her grandfather continued to tell her about her fathers' origins.

"The thing you have to understand about your father is that he didn't leave because he wanted to, he left because he had to. He didn't belong here and his absence from this world was only inevitable," Octavia turned to look at her mother and saw that her expression was somber, seeing her mother like this made her feel awful. 

Lydia was the next to speak this time, "Your father came here through a portal when he was younger, a portal that only opens every 15 years. We know he went back through the portal because, on the 15th anniversary of his arrival, he'd left..." her mother sniffled, "He'd left behind this letter," Philip pulled out a piece of paper from his breast pocket and unfolded it, handing it to her mother.

Octavia took it out of her mother's hand and unfolded it, the letter reading;

 

> **_To my family,_**  
>    
>  **_The portal has reopened and I've considered staying but I feel that it is best to return to my true home, although my heart aches to know that I am leaving you all behind. It is imperative that I know my family is safe in Vecurilia, I will return for the heir._**
> 
> **_Sincerely,_ **
> 
> _**Orwell**  
>  _

The lilac-haired girl's body was shaking, she didn't know what to make of all this. "Is this some sort of stupid joke? What the hell is wrong with you two?" she stood up, quickly getting angry and she saw the panic spread across her mother's face, her grandfather hanging his head low. "Why would we lie about this? To you, of all people?" Philip said aloud to her, and after a moment, Octavia had sat back down.

Her mind was racing and her heart was thumping, they'd told her before they even started that this was the truth and that it would  _sound_  fake, but that's what would make it sound so convincing.

"You... You said this was the perfect time to tell me, why... Why are you only telling me this now? Why is this the perfect time?" she asked, having considered going the route of asking them questions as if the information they had given to her was the truth. Her breathing was labored and her eyes were constantly switching back and forth between the two of them.

Her grandfather inhaled deeply and spoke, "It's a long and very confusing story so I'll restart from the beginning just to make it clear... I met your father when he was a young boy, he'd just come through the portal from his world and I brought him back to the station at Mango park. After a few moments, he'd told me the truth about who he was and after that, I took him in as my own and raised him with your grandmother Lucile.

"He adjusted to life here on earth and when your mother moved in here, they became friends then later on in life they got married and eventually she was pregnant with you. The day he left was the day you were born and we were so sure that he would return last year since the portal opens every 15 years, he would return on your 15th birthday. It just made sense.

"But when he left, your mother met William and that's when she got pregnant with your brother Harrison. And as you know, he was kidnapped as a newborn, and we have reason to believe your father had taken him when he had meant to take you instead."

Octavia was slowly taking in all the information. Her life wasn't at all mundane, she'd pushed away any irregularities in life and maybe this was why, because having to accept that her life was actually a mix of craziness and impossibilities meant that she didn't fit in and Octavia had always craved inclusivity. "Why did you believe him? The mind of a child can easily be manipulated, you know," Octavia blurted out in an irritated huff and her grandfather paused, looking at her intently.

"His eyes," he said to her bluntly and the young girl looked at him cluelessly.

"His... eyes?" Octavia said slowly, her head tilting in curiosity.

"Yes, his eyes," he spoke with what seemed to be lulled amazement, "they were the most incredible things I'd ever seen in my life. They were a deep purple. You have the same purple in your eyes, they're not fully purple like his was, but there's a streak of purple in each of your eyes. It's easy to miss, but I saw those little purple streaks in your eyes on the day you were born." Octavia jumped to her feet, running to the bathroom and rushing to turn on the lights.

She kneeled on the bench and leaned closer to the mirror to gaze into her own eyes, she'd never truly cared to examine herself so closely like this since she despised vanity but she felt immediate regret once she saw it. One purple streak in her left iris and two streaks in the other, her breathing had become erratic.

It was definitely unnatural and certainly not  _mundane_. She began to wonder if it was a chemical reaction but then she thought that if her father had purple eyes and was from a different world that the only option would be that it was genetic.

She stalked back to the lounge where her mother and grandfather sat, waiting patiently for her. Blinking, a warm tear slid down her cheek and she looked to her mother, "Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" Lydia took her daughter's hands and looked into her eyes, "I didn't know what to tell you, I didn't know when it was the right time to tell you but your grandfather and I have been talking and decided it was just best to tell you now instead of never."

"So my dad's some weird alien freak that stole my brother as a baby," she tried her best to joke in this tense situation and it sufficed, her mother and grandfather smiling at her meekly. "I'm afraid so," Philip said and Octavia looked at him with a blank stare.

Just to recount; her father was from another world, Philip and his wife adopted him when he came to earth, her father met her mother and they got married to each other, he had left through the same portal he came from on the day she was born, her mother met William and they had a child together, that child was possibly kidnapped by her father.

"Wait, this makes no sense. You say my father may have kidnapped Harrison, but he was kidnapped on my first birthday, I thought you said the portal only opens every 15 years? What if it was some crazy person who stole Harrison as a baby?" she questioned them with a mean tone and they looked unsure. "He left a note in his crib saying that he had  _'collected the heir'_. We think that when he returned to Vecurilia, he may have done something to the portal to come back and that taking Harrison was an accident." her mother Lydia said.

The story was getting unbelievably blurry at that point, if his 'out of world' origins wasn't enough, him taking her baby brother was the breaking point for her.

"I don't believe it. How could he mix us up, a 1-year-old baby is completely different from a newborn, he couldn't possibly be that stupid to steal the wrong baby," Octavia scorned, "And what's up with this whole 'heir' thing?"

"Your father is the prince of Vecurilia and we think that's one of the main reasons for his return to his home. In a way, that means you're a princess. The princess of Vecurilia." The young girl scoffed meanly, "Me? A princess? This whole thing is getting a bit too delusional." Octavia said bluntly, the stone-faced expressions they possessed had chilled her to the core. From their perspective, it had seemed like she had gone all still and frozen and on the inside, her mind was racing beyond belief with thoughts on top of thoughts on top of other thoughts and they were making her go wild.

 _My heart is going to explode, it's beating too fast − my lungs aren't working, why can't I breathe? I can't move, my muscles... They won't move, why on earth can't I move? I can't speak, my tongue, it feels so heavy in my mouth − my God I'm going **blind**._  _I need to move, I need to move, I need to move, I need to get out of here._

She was visibly shaking, warm tears racing down her cheeks and her breathing had quickened as she sat frozen in her seat, her grandfather went into a panic, "Lydia, do something!", Lydia shifted closer to Octavia, gently placing her hands on to her shoulders.

"It's okay, everything's okay. a panic attack, follow my breathing," Lydia slowly inhaled deeply and breathed out just as slow, watching to see if Octavia was mimicking her actions, she noticed that she had some difficulty trying to breathe in as she hiccupped but she managed. 

A moment passed and Octavia had calmed down, suppressing the urge to burst into tears. She was still struggling to deal with this, the unexpected unloading of perpetual information and the stress of having to take it in so quickly. "It's not okay−I'm a freak," she muttered, wiping the snot dripping from her nose with her sleeve, Lydia sighed and shook her head. "You're not a freak, my love −" Octavia stood abruptly, stomping her foot on the ground with a scowl.

"I  _AM_  A FREAK. MY EYES HAVE PURPLE STREAKS IN THEM, I WAS BORN WITH THIS STUPID PURPLE HAIR AND THIS−" she pulled the hair tie out of her half up-do and gathered a fistful of hair from her crown, pulling it up to show the bright streak of magenta in her hair, "IS PROOF OF HOW MUCH OF A  _FREAK_  I AM. I NEVER WANTED THIS, I NEVER WANTED ANY OF THIS. YOU SHOULD HAVE NEVER TOLD ME ABOUT MY FATHER BECAUSE HE'S A FREAK TOO!" she finished with a roar, turning on her heel and running up the stairs to her room.

Lydia looked defeated, bowing her head down to look at her hands. Philip stood up, moving to sit next to her and he took her hands into his, "It's okay, she'll calm down soon," he said to her in a low whisper. The subdued mother sniffled, raising her head at once, "No, I knew this was too soon!" her tone was defiant, "She'll never forgive me for this. We should have  _never_  told her about this − my poor baby thinks she's a _freak_ , Philip. If she thinks having her beautiful hair is a burden, then this just made it worse!" she seethed then she began to wail, taking her hands out of his to slap onto her tear soaked face.

Philip patted her back comfortingly, listening to her as she cried and cried into her hands, her shoulders trembling. "I'll talk to her, see how she's feeling," he said, continuing to pat her back. A few minutes went by and Lydia had settled down to mere whimpers and sniffles, nodding at him with a gloomy smile and red eyes. "Yes, I think that'll be good..." she said and he left to go to her room.

The old man knocked on her door and after a few moments, the lilac-haired girl appeared at the door, opening it and returning straight to her bed and jumping into it with her face down. He only sighed, walking into the room and sitting down on the edge of her bed.

"You can imagine how I felt when all this happened," Philip chirped up, glancing at the back of Octavia's head knowingly as her groans were muffled by the pillow in her face, "Imagine a small boy in the middle of Mango park sobbing at your feet in the dead of the night, telling you he doesn't know how he got there," the girl's interest had peaked, perhaps he'd be a bit more detailed and maybe those details would comfort her, so with those thoughts, she sat upright on the bed, her kitten jumping into her lap and curling up as she pet it gently.

"I took him back to the station and that's where he told me about himself, what he liked to do and most importantly, he told me about where he came from. I sat there for almost 3 hours as he told me everything he could, but I'll cut you the slack and tell you the important parts," Philip smiled warmly, lightly elbowing her arm and she managed to smile very quickly for just a little bit.

"Your father doesn't remember how he got here, says he was  _pushed_  into the portal, sketchy if you ask me. So, hm, let's see... Ah, yes, the portal opens every 15 years and er, that's when time freezes−" Octavia raised her hand, stopping him mid-sentence.

"Time  _freezes_?" she said, her head tilted with curiosity. "Oh yes," he chuckled, "Orwell was very adamant about that part. He'd not witnessed very much of this place while time was frozen, he said he only got to witness it for a few seconds when he was here."

The girl wasn't completely wavered by her fathers' story, not completely believing in it but with every piece of information they'd been giving her, she'd been slowly beginning to think it all likely. She cleared her throat, "Was my father a good person?" she asked after a few moments of comfortable silence.

Philip smiled to himself, "I remember when he was still young, he would tell me that when time froze, he'd go out and rob a bank and leave us with a fortune before he'd leave," he chuckled, Octavia smiled at the thought of her father being so compassionate in his youth.

"I'd always have to bring him down to earth to remind him that he had to, or think he had to, be a human." he finished, looking at the wall and nodding to himself, the young girl was looking at him and could see that his mind was swimming with the memories of the boy he had taken in and called his own. "While his intentions were good, I don't think he would understand the consequences of his actions and being a boy of royalty, I don't think he'd have to think about that very much."

Octavia continued to listen without falter, taking in all the knowledge steadily but she ignored the last bit, but not entirely, she was focused on one thing he said. "Remind him to  _think_ he was human? Why? Why  _think_? Was he not... a human?" she said in an unsure tone.

"I'm not completely sure, he looks human of course but he told me that he had powers and that they didn't work here." the girl scrunched her nose in disbelief, almost snorting. It sounded like something a child would surely conjure up, and he  _was_ a child at the time, it would make sense then if it was a complete fib. 

"He told me that he could yield water and fire with his hands and that he was in the middle of being taught by the King's Hand on how to control his power when he came here, so he wasn't very proficient yet in being able to control his magic," Octavia sighed at the mention of magic, silly old magic, she thought, a mere impossibility and point of fiction.

"Anyways, uh, yes of course... When he was 15, your mother moved in here and at first, your mother  _hated_ him. One day, your father and his friends were playing some football in the backyard and he'd accidentally thrown it over the fence and the ball hit her in the head, and even after confronting him about the incident, your father refused to apologize to her.

"But after your grandmother Lucile gave him a good growling, he went over next door with some flowers from the garden and ever since that day, they were inseparable," Philip said, smiling with Octavia at the romantic story, she'd heard it before, of course, it was one of the only things she'd heard about her father over her life.

Philip reached deep into his pocket and retrieved his wallet, opening it and pulling out a picture of their family. Her grandmother Lucile and her grandfather Philip were side-by-side, their arms wrapped around each other's shoulders and next to them was her father Orwell, who'd had his arm behind her heavily pregnant mother Lydia. Philip was grinning at the picture, his fingers going over the portion of the picture with him and Lucile.

"On the day this picture was taken, it was the day your father left," he said with a solemn voice, almost longingly, "I immediately drove out to Mango park that night to where he told me the portal was, the spot where I'd found him 30 years ago, and do you remember when I used to take you on patrols when you were little? You were only... 8, I think, and remember the spot that I'd always stop at? The spot with the hole in the wall of the orange dirt mountain?" Octavia nodded at him, "That's where I found your father all those years ago and it's also where I found that letter that he left behind." Octavia's mind wandered to when she had read the letter written from her father in his neat handwriting. 

"But... That wasn't the only thing he left there." Philip raised his wrist, taking off the gold watch he was wearing and placing it in Octavia's hand.

"Your grandmother gave this to him on his 20th birthday and I only think it's right to give it to you now," her heart skipped a beat, looking at the watch in her hands. It was golden with navy blue accents, she flipped it over to look underneath the timepiece. It said; 

 

 

> _'From Lucile Ridley to Orwell, with much love'_

Octavia's heart thumped looking at it, the sweet gesture in her hands. "Pop, I can't take this," she stuttered, "it's from Nanny Lou. You should be the one to keep it," she thrust the watch in his direction and the old man shook his head at her, grabbing her hand and enclosing her fingers around the watch and gently pushing her arm back to herself. "It's yours now, take good care of it, think of it as a birthday present," Oh yeah, she thought, it's still my birthday. 

She bit her lip, deep in thought and she eventually took her hand out of his hold and nodded at him. "Your mother and I are very sorry about how tonight went, we thought that tonight was the right time but we should've prepared or, heck, we should've told you about him in the first place but... Your mother said that it just didn't feel right, and I thought it best to leave it up to her to decide when to tell you. It didn't exactly go as I'd planned but, well, at least you know now," he turned to the young girl, "and while you may know it, do you believe it?"

Octavia was skeptical, her mind going over the story plenty of times and she huffed, "Not completely."

Philip nodded understandingly and stood up from the bed, straightening out his clothes and smiling down at her. "Neither did I, at first, but I came around after a while. It was especially easy for me because looking into his eyes every day just kept me thinking, and if you'd seen them for yourself, you'd believe in it all just like that" he snapped his fingers and she snickered.

"I doubt it, there are lots of explanations for discolored irises. Perhaps a chemical imbalance, er..." Octavia went silent and Philip gave her a knowing look. "You think my mind didn't go to that point? It did, Octavia, my mind's been thinking about it for 30 years," the girl slouched into herself, looking at her palms in embarrassment. 

"I find that the more you keep looking for an explanation, the closer you get to realizing that the truth has been sitting right in front of your eyes and that you'd only been looking around it this whole time," he said and she looked back up to him. He sighed, "I think I better get home now, poppet," Octavia picked the kitten up out of her lap and placed it back down on the bed, hopping out of bed and hugging her grandfather.

"Thanks for coming over, Pop," she muttered into his ear and he let her go. "I hope you've had a good birthday, poppet, and if you ever see time freeze... Don't rob a bank," Octavia sniggered, smiling to the point of hurting her cheeks.

"I promise," she said, "goodnight, Pop."

With that, her grandfather left and she met her mother downstairs, talking to her about what happened and that she'd come to partially accept it. It explained a lot of nonmundane things about her self, her hair, the purple streaks in her eyes, why they'd kept so quiet about him all these years. Her family wasn't very keen on lying and holding off from her telling her the truth all these years was better than lying, she supposed.

"Er, who else knows... About my father?" Octavia asked and Lydia nodded tightly, "Philip, Delilah, William and I, and now you."

They spoke a bit more about her father, mostly about what he was like in life and it seemed that he lacked discipline but despite that, he was supposedly an amazing person. Octavia wondered what it would've been like to grow up with him here and how different her life would have been. She never would've met William and he's been a great part of her life so far, he had taught her many things that she didn't think her blood father would be able to do such as being proficient in Asian cuisine and playing the piano and bassoon. The bassoon, she thought with an inward giggle, a hideously unpopular instrument.

Her mother wished her one last happy birthday as they ate some of the left-over cheesecake and they changed the topic from her father to her day and how it went, how she'd watched a movie and then went to the museum and they talked about  _Liam_ , her mother wagging her eyebrows at her knowingly and this made Octavia roll her eyes and bite her cheek.

Today didn't go as she'd imagined. She'd had a day full of fun and had a pleasant evening with her family and friends surrounding her, just as she'd hoped, and had a dump truck of father dearest sensitive information that was dumped on her to finish off her day. The girl didn't know how to truly feel about it, but she was coming closer and closer, as every second went by, to accepting it. It wasn't as she expected, but it was nice to know  _something_.

I suppose  _something_ will have to suffice for now, she thought as she lay in bed, listening to the thunderous pounding of rain at her windows merge with the soft music coming from her radio.

But then, all of a sudden, the rain had stopped.


	2. Curious Rainfall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Octavia witnesses the strange wonders of the time freeze while unknowingly being sought after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unedited.

Octavia sat up in her bed, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she hopped out of her comfortable space to investigate the sudden change in weather. The young girl was still in her clothes from the day, a mustard turtleneck, jeans, and her warm socks. She slid on her slippers and walked to the window that peered out into the street, and she gasped, almost falling back in bewildered fright.

Gripping onto the sill of the window, she peered out further to see that the rain had just stopped in mid-air. The streetlights were still beaming and the rays gleamed through each raindrop that seemed to have frozen in place, her jaw promptly dropped at the sight. It was beautiful, to say the least, but it was a terrifying thing to witness at the same time.

She looked down to the pavement to see that the puddles that had collected the rainwater looked impeccable. The rain that was dropping into the water in the dips of concrete were mid-splash, droplets rising from the water but not yet touching the ground.

Octavia's breathing had sped up, her heart thumping in her ears and her eyes peering into the unbelievable, the curious rainfall. She forced her legs to carry her out of her room and she sped down the stairs to see her mother in the kitchen where she was cleaning up the last of the party from that same night, the young girl stopped in her tracks when the scene from outside the window had equally stricken her to what she was seeing before her now.

Her mother Lydia was in the middle of washing the last dish but... She was stood frozen on the spot. The water that was coming from the tap was in mid-stream, not making a sound as it too looked as still as ever.

"M−mom?" Octavia said with a shaky voice, reaching her hand out to touch her mother's shoulder.  The young girl gulped as she didn't get a response, she stepped forward, the side of her hip hitting the bench as she peered around to look at her mother's face. It was captured in a look of content, a lazy smile and her eyes gazing down into the sink where she was cleaning the fine china with a new sponge.

"Mom, please!" Octavia said in a whisper, hiccupping when she saw no movement or any sign of actual life.

She was beginning to feel awful and sick, her stomach threatening to show her the remains of her salad and cheesecake. Octavia gripped harder onto her mother's shoulder, shaking it roughly. "Mom! Wake up, please! Please," Octavia whined pathetically, dropping to her knees in a sobbing heap.

Octavia wiped the tears and snot away with her sleeves, gathering the strength to stand on her shaky legs, she ran as quickly as she could back up the stairs to her parents' bedroom to see her step-father William. She slammed open the door and immediately ran to the bedside where he was sat up in bed, his reading glasses on and a book splayed open in his lap. "Oh! William, there's something happening−" she stopped herself when she saw that he too was not responding to her, his eyes trained on the book, his whole body frozen in place.

"Wi−William? Oh God, not you too..." She moaned, bringing her hand to her mouth as she gulped down her cries. After a moment of studying his frozen form, she shuffled her way back to her room with slouched shoulders, her body shaking and her tears sliding silently down her face.

She grabbed a thick coat from her wardrobe and numbly put on some leather boots. The world was frozen in time. What else could she do than to investigate further into the world, she needed to see if her grandparents were suffering the same fate as her mother and step-father.

The young girl stepped down the stairs with difficulty, her tear-welled eyes temporarily blinding her. She brought her hand to her mouth again to muffle her puling as she saw her mother again in the same spot in the kitchen. Of course, she hadn't moved, Octavia thought, what _is_ this nightmare I'm in? Her body shook with a bitter sadness, an ear-piercing scream ripping from her mouth as she wailed loudly into the air, to absolutely no one. She cried and cried, sliding down doorway to the kitchen, her fingers tingling and her mind going fuzzy.

She sat there for a while, eventually coming down from her spit of anger to a quiver of silently strolling tears. Biting her cheek, she stood up from her spot and brushed off her clothes, promptly turning on her heel to go outside. There was no point in staying behind at that point, she had to see if anyone else was actually alive and moving as she was.

Opening the front door, she was greeted by the sight of something so frighteningly spectacular. The rain.

Millions upon millions of droplets in mid-air, ceasing to touch the ground and floating so graciously in the space of the world. Stepping out on the doorstep, she peered into the sky to see that there was a shooting star, its white streak still trailing behind it and so permanent in the sky. Octavia gulped, raising her hand to touch the rain that was so curiously frozen in time.

Her hand reached out and the rip of her middle finger touched a single raindrop, feeling the cold wetness made her shiver. Without thinking, she ran back inside to grab a glass cup and she rushed back to the doorstep and threw it to the ground. The force from her throw was enough to shatter the cup, but it didn't break completely.

Octavia kneeled down on the dry portion of the doorstep, leaning her head down to get a better look at the cracks through the glass, the cup was on a sort of lean and while it had impacted the ground, it hadn't splayed off into a several thousand shards. It'd only cracked, meeting the hard concrete ground.

The girl half expected it to behave normally, as thrown cups should behave, to crack on the ground and have shards go meters away in every direction but that wasn't quite what happened and it made her slightly furious. With a huff, she stepped over the glass with her heavy-duty boots and walked briskly over her lawn to her grandparents' house. The rain hit her in the face as she walked, the droplets collecting on her skin and she brought her sleeve to soak up the water, holding her hands over her face to avoid the wetness.

Octavia kneeled down to flip up the doormat where there was a key and she opened the door, not bothering to close it as she raced around the first floor of the house in a search for her grandparents. She then ran up the stairs to their bedroom and saw that her grandmother Delilah was frozen in place in front of their wardrobe, a coat hanger in her hand holding a tweed suit and in the midst of her chore, she had a blissful smile on her face but she wasn't moving either. Neither was her grandfather Philip, he was at his bedside, a warm smile on his face as he looked down at the same photograph that he had shown her earlier, the photograph of his family.

She heaved at the sight in front of her, swallowing down the urge to cry but then she remembered what her grandfather had told her about earlier. The time freeze.

_"...Ah, yes, the portal opens every 15 years and er, that's when time freezes−"_

Of course, the time freeze, she thought, this can't be real.

 _"_ The portal. My God, time freezes when the portal is opened... Pop said it was at Mango park, that's so far away. It wouldn't hurt to see the portal, to see if it's actually real. I won't go through it of course, but... It's something that needs to be confirmed, it's a part of who I am, part of my lineage. I need to see if it truly exists," she said aloud to herself.

She stepped around her father and picked up a pen and paper that was on his bedside table, and she leaned down to write a message. Of course, he'd have to have seen his bedside table prior to her presence there in their bedroom, so when he looks down to see her message there then she'd be able to prove that time actually freezes. She looked at the watch that belonged to her father, strapped to her wrist next to the charm bracelet and she read the time. It was _'09:37 P.M'._

Octavia wrote down the time on the paper and continued to write a short message.

_'Pop, this is Octavia. I've witnessed the time freeze, it's currently 09:37 P.M on the 13th of September and it's raining. It's a frightening thing, this time freeze, I was absolutely horrified to see the rain paused in mid-air. I felt like I was inside a photograph of rainfall, and it was even more terrifying to see you all so still and frozen in time like this. I hope I never have to experience something like this again, it's an awful thing to experience. I'm confused as to why it's just me that's able to walk around. I'm going to the portal to see if it's real, come to see me as soon as you see this message, Pop._

_Much love,_

_Octavia'_

She nibbled on her knuckle, reading over the message carefully and she slammed the pen and paper back down onto the bedside table. The girl stood to peer out the window, pulling the curtain aside just a bit. Octavia was half hoping to see some movement but the was rain still paused in the middle of the air like someone had just done some sort of magic trick.

Inwardly snorting at the thought of magic, she continued to look through the glass and sighed. Compared to 20 minutes ago, she'd calmed down significantly and accepted her sudden fate, although the current situation was still adherently frightening. She had wholeheartedly decided to wait it out, the time freeze had to... _Unfreeze_ at some point, didn't it? Octavia had gazed out the window for a few minutes, studying everything in its frozen state, mostly the things that were typically in constant movement such as the trees and, of course, the rain.

But then in the distance, she saw something move. Not a tree, not the tons of rain in the air, but a _person_. The way they walked was very determined and in a moment of panic, she ducked down, closing the curtain a bit and peering only through a small slit between the thick fabrics to spy on the strange figure sauntering briskly down the street. They suddenly paused in front of her house and turned on their heels, walking with purpose into her house.

Octavia choked on a gasp, her mind going crazy with thoughts on who they were and what they were doing, what they were going to do. She thought quickly, brushing past her grandmother and kneeling down beside her to reach into the wardrobe, looking for something. Pulling out her grandfather's boots, she fished out a hunting knife from the inside and she examined it closely.

It was slick and clean, a silver blade with a wooden handle and brass accents. She held it in her hand, getting a grip on the blade and she suddenly stopped. Octavia has handled a blade before but she didn't think she would be able to use it on anyone, not even in self-defense, but she knew that it would at least serve as an intimidating object.

After slapping both her cheeks twice and hyping herself up, she quietly stepped down the stairs and poked her head around the corner of the doorway and looked outside to see a sign of the person. When she looked out, she realized that from her house to her grandparents' house, she'd made a pathway through the rain. The rain had made an outline of her person when she walked through it, she hadn't a clue of what had happened, not even from peering down over her path from upstairs from her grandparents' bedroom window. She gulped, suddenly thinking that the stranger would step back outside and see the path that she made.

The lilac-haired girl bit her tongue, stepping out with determination and following through the rain-cleared path that she made, her courage was rising up with every step she took. She didn't think she would be able to forgive herself if something had happened to her parents when she fully had the chance to try her best to protect them. Her heartbeat was steadily rising the closer she stepped to her house, seeing that the front door was open.

Her grip on the hunting knife tightened as she stepped past the cup that she had thrown to the ground, her eyes trained on the entryway looking for a sign of life. She was hoping that her mind was playing tricks on her, that her desire for someone to comfort her had manifested into something that played tricks on her mind but that hope was immediately crushed as she saw a tall someone appear at the top of the stairway and she quickly stepped to the side of the doorway, out of their of sight.

The intruder's steps were heavy as they descended down the stairs and the girl readied herself, her mind on the knife in her hand and how best to hold out. She thought it best to hold it how her grandfather had taught, with the hilt pointing towards her body, closest to the thumb, and the blade pointing away from her, closest to her pinky. They hadn't stepped out the doorway as she thought they would and it had gone quiet so she carefully peaked her head through the doorway and saw the figure disappear into the kitchen.

The breath that she was holding in, it was sucked out of her like a vacuum as she instantly remembered that her mother was in there and with the adrenaline coursing through her veins, she rushed through the doorway to see the hooded figure with their hand raised, only a finger touching a hair on the top of her mothers' head.

"Stop!" she bellowed out, her courage taking over her body and the intruder whipped around to look at her. They stepped back into a defensive stance, their hand immediately going to grab the hilt of the sword in their belt as they peered at her through the shadows of their large hood.

"Get away from her! Or I swear to God, I'll kill you," Octavia seethed at the trespasser, their large hands slowly lifting into the air in surrender.

The stranger lifted off the hood, revealing their face to her and it was now that she got to have a good look at them. It was a man− no, a boy, and he looked quite young, almost as though he were the same age as her, his piercing green eyes were staring down at her. He was considerably taller than her, his lanky form standing on guard.

"Who are you?" she spat at him, raising the hunting knife higher and stepping closer to her mother, he stepped back.

"I'm not here to hurt you−" "I said _who are you_!?" she shouted at him and at this point, they had switched places, with her mother behind her back and him standing in the spot where she was before with his hands raised to eye level.

"Octavia, I need you to come with me−" her chest clenched with fear at the mention of her name, "How do you know my name?" she said with flared nostrils, a threatening tone in her voice.

He was visibly calm which made her both fearful and furious, "Your father told me," he said, eyeing her curiously for her reaction.

She was in disbelief, her mouth agape at the revelation. The lilac-haired girl collected herself quickly, "Now answer my other question, _who are you?_ " she said, inching closer to him with the knife still raised high in the air.

"My name is Harrison," he said, "and I've come to bring you to Vecurilia."

Octavia's eyes widened at this, "Harrison?" she said, "You're... You're my−" "Brother, well, half-brother," he finished for her and she nodded slowly, her mouth wide open.

"So it's true," she said while lowering the knife, "My father did take you," Harrison nodded at her words.

She turned to look behind her, her eyes falling on their mother then she turned back around to look at him again. "An egregious mistake he made, but nonetheless, it's something that he wants to fix," Harrison said to her, his hands coming down slowly from their surrender.

"I−I was only told about my father tonight," Octavia said breathlessly, becoming disoriented, "This is... It's too much, this is too much, oh my God," she said in a daze, her eyes wandering around the room as she desperately tried to catch her breath. She dropped the knife backing away from her brother and grasping on to the bench behind her, "I can't breathe," she gasped on nothing, "I can't breathe− What in the world is _happening_ ," she muttered, looking to her mother and becoming even more light-headed.

"Octavia, calm down−" "Don't tell me to calm down!" she screamed at him and he stood his ground, looking at her as she slowly sank to the ground, one hand clasped to her chest and the other on her forehead.

He looked at her hopelessly as she was in a panicked state, "Just, uh, just breathe," he said to her and her eyes darted to him, "I _am_ breathing!" she snapped at him and he couldn't help but stand there as she tried to calm herself down. When she did manage to calm down, by clenching her fist and forcing her breathing to slow, he knelt down in front of her, sitting down and waiting for her to talk first.

Her eyes were stuck to the floor beneath her, an emotionless look on her face, the eerie quiet companying them both, not to mention their frozen mother only a few feet away.

"I don't want to see him," she said, looking up to face her sibling. "my father, I mean. I'm staying here with our mother, and you should too."

Harrison sighed, looking at his hands in his lap, "I do plan on staying here, it'd be nice to be with my real family. I don't know what our mother will say, though, I bet she'd be in disbelief and try to clepe me for a beggar," he said with a shake of his head. "There's such a thing as DNA testing, Harrison, not only that but I can vouch for you. She knows about my father's history, and she already suspected that you were kidnapped by him. Your father is here too, by the way, I grew up with him, he's a good man," Harrison lifted his head up to her with a look of surprise on his face.

"My father's here?" he said and Octavia nodded at him, pointing up the stairs and he let out a deep breath, "The man in the bed?" she nodded at him again. They were having a civil discussion, they didn't know each other formally but they _were_ family, after all, they were okay together at that moment.

"Your hair," Harrison said, "It looks just like the queen mothers'," "My grandmother?" Octavia asked. "Yes, she passed when I was young, she was a kind and compassionate woman," he said with glumness, "You would've liked her." 

"What's it like? With my father?" she asked him after a moment in comfortable silence, "He's a good man too, a very noble king."

"My father is the king? Of, uh... Vecu-really?" she said with unsureness, " _Vecurilia_ ," her brother corrected her and she nodded, making sure to burn the name into her mind. "The oldest of the three kingdoms," Harrison added and she tilted her head in interest.

She perked up, "There's more than one kingdom?" and Harrison chuckled, "Yes. Each kingdom is ruled by their respective royal families. There's the kingdom of Vecurilia, home to the Vulpecula royal family. Then there's the kingdom of Demyria, home to the Demetria royal family and the last kingdom is Cassimir, home to the Cassils royal family. Also, your father became king the moment he stepped back through the portal."

"What? Why? How?" "When he came back through the portal, his father was on his deathbed. It must've been a dreadful day for him, having to see his father die and then immediately take on the responsibility of being a king with very little knowledge on how to do it," Harrison told her, his sister carefully taking in the information as he gave it to her.

Octavia listened in wonder, this world he spoke of sounded like something she'd be keen to learn the history of but then again, she didn't want to be too deep into it all, no matter how wonderful it seemed. She didn't want to go there, not to Vecurilia, not to Demyria or to Cassimir. She wanted to stay in Australia with her wonderful family, including her brother that she just met.

"Stay here," Octavia said, reaching forward to take hold of one of his cold hands, "I won't go there, and neither should you. You should stay, meet your mother and father and be with your real family," Harrison gave her a look and she let go of his hands.

"What?" she said to him. "I just... We have to go to Vecurilia," Harrison said to her and she flared with annoyance, immediately getting to her feet and pointing down at him. "No! It's not fair to our mother, she already lost you and I don't want her to lose me either. We have to stay here, my father can stay and rule the kingdom of whatever-it-is without you, without _us,_ I'm sure he's capable of doing that just fine," she said with a mean tone, huffing angrily at her brother who didn't bother to see everything from her perspective.

"He doesn't need me, he only needs you," Harrison said, "don't you understand? You're the heir to the throne, you _need_ to go to Vecurilia. The people need you, your father needs you, Victor cannot be the king of Vecurilia," he stressed to her and she scrunched her nose. "Who's Victor?"

Harrison's face looked solemn as his gaze fell to the floor, "Your uncle," and Octavia stepped back in surprise. "I... have an uncle?" she said and Harrison stood up to be at the same level as her, "Yes, and he's a terrible man. I have half the mind to think he's the one who pushed your father into the portal when they were children. He's so adamant to become king, he almost destroyed the portal purely to prevent you from coming back, especially since you're the only thing in his way to the throne. He says that almost destroying the portal was a 'mistake', but I don't believe it for a bit.

"No one wields a dark fireball around the portal gate on accident, he was deliberately trying to destroy it. Your uncle doesn't have the heart to kill your father, but getting rid of your father without causing harm is something that I'm sure Victor would happily do. Albeit, there's no proof of anything. It's just a gut feeling, but not just my own, there are others in the castle who are cautious of Victor's ambitions." Harrison said, pausing every now and again to hold himself back from going further with his rant, Octavia was bewildered. Her father the king, her uncle the scandalous, her half-brother the... Hunter, she supposed. 

"My maniacal uncle is not my responsibility!" Octavia hissed, "I don't want to go to Vecurilia, I'm staying here. You're staying here too, you need to see your real family for a change, I don't care what you have to say about it," she crossed her arms over her chest, raising her chin high and standing her ground.

Harrison huffed, rubbing the back of his neck and wincing, "Did you ever wonder how I was taken as a baby? How it was even possible, due to the fact that the portal opens every 15 years?" he asked her. "Well, yes..." she said, dropping her arms.

"Your father worked tirelessly, using dark magic, to open the portal but because of the magic he used, he had weakened the portal. He tells me that he planned to bring you and our mother through the portal but didn't want to do it when she was pregnant, not knowing what would happen to her if he tried. But when he came back through the portal to retrieve you both, he saw that our mother was in bed with another man and he didn't think it was right to take her back with him, no matter how much he loved her, he knew that she had loved someone else. He then told me that in a rush to get back to the portal, he had taken me instead, thinking that I was you. He had not even tried to meddle with the portal again, thinking that he would destroy it if he used any more dark magic, so he waited for the portal to open on its own to recover you from this world and to bring you back to your rightful place in the kingdom," Harrison explained to her and Octavia was wary.

Octavia bowed her head, closing her eyes and sighing, "Do you have any idea how much this is to take in right now?" and Harrison nodded, "I know it's a lot. I know you have a life here, and I know it's a lot to ask of you. To just give up your life to try and adapt to something you don't even want to do, I understand,"  her sibling said and she scowled.

"You were just a baby, you didn't have anything to give up in the first place−" "Yes, well I didn't ask to be taken from here," he argued. "You want me to suffer the same fate as you? All I'm asking of you is to stay, Harrison, to be with our family. We can just forget about the king and leave them to deal with whatever they have to deal with. We are not obligated to do anything, but you most certainly have a choice. You can either stay here with your  _real_ family, or you can slave away for my father and after him, you can slave away for his insidious brother."

"Nobody would have to slave away for anyone if you just came to the kingdom and did your duties as the heir!" she looked at him aghast, "My  _duties!?_ " she said to him with disgust and he scowled at himself, realizing that he had said the wrong thing to her. "I owe nothing to that man, it's not my fault that he got stuck here," Octavia said, "If anything, it's his fault. He shouldn't have made a family, he shouldn't have kidnapped you, he shouldn't have sent you here to get me," Octavia sniffled "B-but now that you're here... Just stay here and leave that place behind," her lip quivered, on the verge of tears.

Harrison had a pained look, looking to his feet. "He was told to kill me, you know? When they realized I wasn't the heir, you, they told your father to kill me and to wait for the portal to open to come and get you but instead, he saved me and raised me as his own. He saved my life−" with teary eyes, she cut him off "It wouldn't have had to be like that if he hadn't done the wrong thing."

He gulped, "I could have died, Octavia, I wouldn't be here right now if it weren't for him."

She was the one to look at her feet this time, coming to understand his point. "It's not so bad in Vecurilia, the kingdom is prosperous and the people are wonderful. And the magic... My goodness, the magic. It's beautiful. Although, there is a dark side to it of course, evident to the story of your father using dark magic to manipulate the portal," he smiled meekly "I have a plan, maybe, but I don't know if you'll like it."

Octavia was questioning his so-called "plan" before he had even said what it was, her eyes narrowed as she examined him closely. His shaggy blonde hair was wet and his clothes were medieval-like, did everyone in the kingdom dress like him? She didn't think she'd want to dress in the era of clothes he was wearing, she'd dressed like that once for an Elizabethan play she participated in only because Lilibeth and Monroe had begged her to join. It was awful, despite how small of a role she was given, she had forgotten her lines and stared out into the shadows towards the audience in a panic until Liam had saved her, improvising in her vocal absence.

She could vividly remember how Liam had swept her off her feet, quite literally, and carried her backstage as their scene finished. She could remember how she stumbled on her words in a bid to thank him and she eventually mustered up the courage to look at his face which was sporting an amused smirk. "Your heroic gesture is nothing short of a necessary duty in relevance to saving the show," Octavia said a bit too arrogantly, forgetting she was meant to thank him, her arms crossing over her regency esque dress.

"My goodness, madam Alice," he began, using her play name "Your pride is formidable in the least, dare I say menacing," Liam said cheekily, wagging his eyebrows at her and she cracked a smile. It was a nice moment between them, but she was thrust from her mind and back into the real world when she remembered the plan that her brother apparently had.

"Go on then, tell me," Octavia said in a sigh. "We return to Vecurilia−" she cut him off again, throwing her hands in the air in disbelief with a scoff. "Listen! Hear me out, please, just..." he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Remember the dark magic your father used to tamper with the portal?" he asked her and she nodded, "What if we go to Vecurilia, and if you don't like it there, we can just get someone to open the portal again."

He was pleased to see his sister consider the plat, "But there's just one issue..." he said to her, his hands crossed together and almost wincing, expecting some sort of rejection. "What is it?" she said, becoming annoyed with him. If it was an impossibility, she'd become the embodiment of an eye-roll and do her best to keep her brother there on earth and make him wait for time to unfreeze, with or without volition. "Because I'm not from their world, I'm unable to perform magic," he said in an almost 'duh' voice.

"I also understand that the ability to use magic here isn't possible, but because your blood is theirs, maybe  _you_ can be the one to use magic. The perk of that is that you can be able to leave through the portal at your will, but the drawback is that you'll have to learn how to use magic first. Most children in the kingdom aren't proficient until their early teens, some are blessed and are skillful at a young age but until you come to the kingdom, we won't be able to know how proficient you are. You could be a Felair for all I know, but that's unlikely," Harrison explained. "Oh, a Felair is someone who isn't born with magic. Magic is pretty common in the kingdom, a fair number of people possess the abilities to wield the elements."

Octavia scrunched her nose, "I have to learn magic? That would be truly awful," she loured with disdain. It wasn't  _normal_ to use magic, it simply wasn't right, but despite that, if she had magical abilities, then maybe their plan would work. She could meet her father, witness the kingdom she is supposed to rule, see if the magic is real.

"It's nonsense, absolute nonsense, I won't do it." "Why not!?" Harrison bellowed, "You're being selfish−" he began to say but then stopped himself when he realized that he was the one in the wrong because, in reality, she wasn't being selfish at all, she was being wary and cautious and he may have just ruined his chances of successfully completing his mission because she couldn't see into his mind, she could only hear his words and what she was hearing was infuriating her.  
  
" _Selfish?_ " she said with a look of disgust, "No, I didn't mean that−" "How  _dare_ you call me selfish, you have no right in calling me that!" she spat at him, and he went to defend himself but she continued to berate him. "If I didn't care about how our mother feels, I'd drag you to that portal myself and kick you through it," Octavia glared at him and he looked upset.

She sighed, a revelation coming to her. 

"I'll go with you," he let out a deep breath of relief but she wasn't finished, "But I  _will_ return here to earth, and so will you, understand?" he nodded, accepting her terms.

"I won't learn magic, so we'll need to find someone who's not... A Felair. And you have to promise that you will do everything in your power to bring us back here, is that understood?" "Completely understood, sister."

Octavia nodded, still unsure of her wild decision. It felt like the whole universe was playing a trick on her and she felt disgusted knowing that she may be suffering from protagonist syndrome, it was entirely narcissistic and she hated that. But overall, she needed answers. And she needed them now. 

"I'm sorry for calling you selfish," he said, appearing sorrowful and regretful, "It was a slip of the tongue, I want you to understand that I know this is an incredibly strange and incongruous situation, I am grateful for your decision to come with me to Vecurilia." he was curious as to why she had changed her mind so quickly but didn't want to question it in case she decided to stay instead and trap him here so he wouldn't be able to return.

"Let's go... But before I go, I have to leave another note," "Another note?" he asked, "I left a note with my grandfather. The man who adopted my father when he came here. He lives next door, that's where I was when I saw you come to this house."

"Oh, I suppose a note would be good, what will you write? And to whom?" she pursed her lips as she went deep into thought, her hand coming to rest under her chin and her eyes wandering the ceiling.

Octavia turned, pulling open a drawer in the kitchen and pulling out a pen and paper that Harrison looked at curiously, and she scribbled something down without him seeing and she folded it, looking at it longingly before kissing the paper in her hands and putting it on the bench in front of her mother.

"What'd you write?" Harrison asked her and Octavia shook her head, "That's for her to know and for you to find out, brother," she said and he smirked. "Very well, sister, let us be on our way to Vecurilia," and he held out his arm, to which she linked with her own.

Though she was wary and felt sick, she was almost excited to see the kingdom she was destined to rule and to finally meet her father and witness his peculiar purple eyes.


	3. Everything, Golden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Octavia gets a bigger welcome than she expected and witnesses the wonders of the foreign kingdom she is destined to rule.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unedited. Also, I'm in a major rush so sorry for the lack of development and plausibility!

Harrison and Octavia kept their heads down as they swept through the streets of Mango county, the frozen rain seeping into their clothes as they ventured further to Mango park where the mysterious portal rested. "This way's faster," Octavia said, turning them away from their given path that would've taken them a while longer. She knew the way to the park like the back of her hand, it was her third home, to her actual home and the town library.

"How did you find me, anyway? You've never been here before, well... Not coherently," she said to him, remembering that he was a baby the last time he was on earth, as they walked briskly to the portal. "When he returned to the kingdom, your father made a map from memory."

Octavia considered it to be the truth, she knew how easy it was to recall a trail from her home to the park, it was almost a straight line unless you consider the shortcut that Octavia and her grandfather had found. It was a tall hedge stretching down the street for miles to come and Octavia could remember how she had accidentally let her homework slip from her hands, the important papers flailing away from her in the Australian summer heat and landing in the brittle branches of the bushy wall. Grabbing the paper, in curiosity she pushed the hedge apart and on the other side, she could see Mango park.

"Pop! Look! I can see the orange mountain from here!" she shouted excitedly, her arms getting scratched as she spread the hole in the hedge wider so her grandfather could see through it. Philip ventured to his granddaughter in his mountain ranger uniform, all heaving and sweaty, he took off his sunglasses to see that she was right and unbeknownst to them, it was going to be their new path to the park from here on out. "Nice work, poppet!" Philip exclaimed, patting her on the back and grinning back at her.

She smiled at the memory, unconsciously gripping tighter onto Harrison's arm. "You okay there, sister?" her brother asked and she whipped her head to look at him, abruptly being brought out of her sea of thoughts and she tried to muster up a coherent and accountable story about what she was reminiscing over but she looked ahead of her to see the wide hole in the hedge that her grandfather had cut out for them. "There's the shortcut," Octavia said to him and he turned to look at it and groaned.

"I could have gone this way instead," he moaned and Octavia snickered at his dismay. They passed through, being careful not to slip as they walked on the mud. In the distance, she could see a swirling pink light. That was the orange mountain. That was where her grandfather said the portal was.

The closer they got to the infamous orange mountain, the better she could see the swirling motion in the side of the earth. The rain in front of them illuminated the glow of the portal, different hues of pink swimming in a whirl. It was inarguably beautiful. This was the same portal that her father had taken 16 years ago... And also 15 years ago. This was almost like a right of passage. It was a passage nonetheless, perhaps it was poetic.

"I will not force you, no matter how desperately I want you to go. But this is entirely your choice. Are you sure about this?" Harrison said to her as the got to the portal, turning her to face him and grabbing her shoulders, the pink light emitting from the portal embracing them both. Octavia pondered over the question. She truly wasn't sure, and she wasn't normally an adventurous spirit, despite the influences of her mountain ranger grandfather, and this decision would most certainly change her life. For the better or worse, she wasn't sure about that but she was sure of one thing at the end of her endless thinking.

Octavia turned to face the portal and she breathed in deeply, quite shakily. "I'm ready, brother," she said to him, holding her hand out and feeling the warmth of his own hand intertwining with hers. He took the first step towards the portal, putting his hand into the swirls of pink and he looks at her to see for her reaction. She continued to watch as he moved closer into the portal, his whole arm was now engulfed in the curious pinkness.

"W−what does it feel like?" she asked him, her breathing unsteady and her shoulders shaking with unease. "It feels... Warm, like a hug."

She nodded, blinking furiously as she inched closer and closer to the portal in the side of the solid orange mound of earth. She raised her free hand and reached into the portal. It felt warm, as Harrison had said, and it somehow felt like complete calm but she could also sense a smidge of chaos. Nonetheless, it felt wrong to turn back now. She'd come all this way, had made promises to her own blood. She had to do this. She had to stay strong.

Harrison walked into the portal completely and Octavia followed him in cautiously, stepping into it slowly and as soon as she'd stepped in completely, they were falling into nothingness. There were warm winds whipping past their faces as their grip on each others' hands had tightened, blurs of pinks and blues and whites blinding her vision, she screamed but nothing came out as they were spinning in circles down the portal. Octavia's hair was lashed in every direction as she continued to whirled around in strange space of the portal, Harrison trying to pull her closer so they wouldn't get separated.

All they could do was hold onto each others' hands and fall into the peculiar expanse. She couldn't tell which direction was up or down or where she was falling or even  _floating_  too, she was in a mass of strange changes. Octavia could feel herself growing and shrinking, feeling sick and blissful she closed her eyes and then all of a sudden, everything stopped.

Still holding onto each others' hands, they gripped even tighter onto each other as they were suddenly thrust in one direction. As suddenly as they were pushed into the random void, they were embraced by a warmth greater than that of the portal and Octavia opened her eyes, her hand still in her brother's. 

The sight before her was breathtaking, the ground beneath them was beautiful green grass, massive mountains covered in white and pink, the sky was a bright blue and even though it seemed to be daytime, the sky was littered with stars as though it were the Arctic night sky and she was breathless at the sight of the planets that were unbelievably close. Octavia looked around and spotted a giant lake that looked inviting with its clear waters and clean appearance, the air was crisp and fresh and she breathed it in deeply, immediately satisfied with her surroundings.

This was Vecurilia.

Octavia quickly looked behind her, letting go of Harrison's hand, and she could see that the same swirling pink portal was encased in what seemed to be a hollow stone shrine with glowing blue symbols above the top of the portal. She looked away from it, not wanting to look at the portal again.

She didn't want to look at that strange thing for a while and she was also in disbelief that she had to go into it again to return home. She was also in disbelief that her father had to experience that 4 times, 1 time against his will. Octavia at least had some sort of preparation, yet her father was a child when he first experienced it. It must've been a horrendous thing to endure.

The lilac-haired girl shook away the thought and looked ahead, she could see tall stone walls encasing a giant castle with a purple and gold flag waving atop one of the many towers it had, that must be the kingdom. Octavia looked at her brother and could see him adjusting the sword in its sheath, appearing a bit nauseous. "I am not fit for a magical world portal sister," he coughed and groaned, rubbing his stomach.

"It is not as bad for you because you share their blood, so it is easier for you to withstand the... I don't even know," he huffed, his hands on his knees as he heaved in an effort to try and settle himself down from the horrific and strange journey in the portal. Octavia, with some sort of guilt, reaches out her hand to try and pat him on the back but then she suddenly fell back in surprise as a burst of gold light emitted from her hand, landing her backside on the green grass

She slapped her thigh with the hand that had the peculiar outburst, rubbing it on her hip and bringing it up to eye level to examine it. "What the hell just happened!?" she exclaimed, standing up quickly with her eyes wide as she twisted her hand to look at it better in the natural light. "Pardon?" Harrison said, his face scrunched up as he maneuvered his head to look at her from his heaving fit. He saw the expression on her face and tried to stand up straight without trying to throw up, "What happened?" he asked her and his sister looked at him with those same wide eyes, waving her hand in his face.

"I−I just, I tried to touch you and then my hand− it just, it did something. A−a−a yellow light! A yellow light just shot out of my hand, can you believe it?" Harrison looked shocked, but not like it was an unbelievable thing, but that she was able to even possess such a thing. 

"Touch me again," Harrison said and Octavia scrunched her face, "What?" she said, slightly bewildered. He quickly grabbed her wrist and looked her in the eyes, slowly bringing her hand to touch his shoulder, "Trust me," he said. The light came out of her hand again which made her try to pull back but his grip on her wrist was too strong, although it didn't hurt. As soon as her whole hand was touching him, he let go of her and as he did so, he was embraced with a warm glow, a light breeze blowing around him as Octavia watched with amazement. After a moment, the peculiar light surrounding him had dimmed and the breeze came to a halt, Octavia took her hand off his shoulder.

Harrison didn't look nauseous anymore, in fact, he had a bit more color in his face and a pep in his step. He grinned at her, embracing her in a hug and jumping giddily on the spot as Octavia hugged him back with confusion. "What was that? What just happened right there?" she asked him and he let go of her, "You're a healer," he told her excitedly, "you just healed me. Healers are rare, I've read about them in books. Most healers are a part of the royal family so it makes sense that you're a healer. I wonder what other abilities you have," he said in wonder and Octavia's jaw dropped at the revelation. 

 _A healer_ , Octavia said in her mind,  _I'm a healer. I just healed my brother. I have... Magical abilities... No, that's nonsense! He was just pretending to be sick... But then, the light, the breeze, the glow from my hand... Oh god, I truly do have magical abilities. And maybe other magical abilities. Wait, what?_

"Wait, what?" Octavia spoke, "I could have other abilities? Like what?" she asked him and he took a step back with a happy lopsided grin on his face, moving to sit on the gross and she followed suit, "There's a lot of things you can have. The common abilities are wielding things like fire, water, earth, electricity.

"Another common one is being able to talk to animals, another rare ability I've read about are some people being able to breathe underwater, although I don't suppose there's any use for it unless someone would care to venture into the temple in that lake over there. It's quite boring apparently. More rare ones are weather manipulation, invisibility, and shapeshifting. If you could have another ability, other than healing, which one would you choose to have?"

Octavia pondered over the question while also taking in the information that she was just given, there were so many strange choices. "I suppose the ability to talk to animals would be nice. Or being able to breathe underwater, that sounds cool too," she admitted, smiling at the look on her brother's face. "I would like the ability to manipulate weather. I much prefer the rain," Harrison told her and she smiled, nodding at his words and looking out to the pink and white mountains hiding behind the walls of the castle.

"So do I, it's quite comforting," she said and they sat together in the grass, gazing out to the foreign land (to her, at least) and studying the new territory. The pink and white mountains were large, almost reaching the only cloud in the sky and towering over everything she could see. The atmosphere was fresh, almost comforting, and suddenly she heard a loud hum. Octavia looked behind her to see that the pink swirls of the portal had disappeared, you could stand and walk right through the ritualistic stone without being transported anywhere which was somewhat unnerving to her.

"It's gone." 

"I heard that it does that." 

Harrison chuckled and they stood up together, brushing off the dust they'd gotten on themselves. "Because you don't seem like the girl who likes surprises, I thought I ought to tell you that your father has the preparations for a kingdom-wide celebration on call, in the event that you arrived. And, well, since you have arrived, as soon as you step through those gates, a feast will be prepared immediately and a few more traditional events will take place, nothing too strenuous or big."

Octavia's eyes widened and she gulped. Of course, a celebration made sense, but she didn't think she would be able to handle it.  _He said it was nothing too big, so that's good. That's good._

As Harrison took her hand again, they walked closer to the walls of the castle in silence, he could tell she was nervous. As they got in eyeshot of the castle, Octavia heard a loud horn blow, Harrison's hand instinctively going to grab his sword, she squinted to see that there was a small man on a perch of the battlement of the castle with a horn in his hand.

"I think the king of Vecurilia knows you're here now," Harrison muttered to her with a gentle smile and she gulped. They were closer to the tall, billowing gates of the kingdom and heard beautiful music being played loudly, the laughter and chatter of the people being heard with ease.

The tall and heavy gates to the kingdom opened to reveal what looked like a long street littered with people in colorful clothing and carts filled to the brim with what appeared to be foreign fruits and vegetables. The guards that had opened the gates for them were tall, burly looking men with beards and rough appearances although their uniforms were spectacular. Deep purple underclothing with silver plated armor, ladened with golden trimmings, they looked very masculine and threatening.

Strange animals walked freely along the paths, some big and some small, some looking familiar like dogs and cats and some looking as though they'd come straight out of a fantasy book. A small beige creature crawled next to one of the guards that had opened the gate and it peered outwards of the kingdom, looking at Octavia and her brother. It snared its slimy nostrils wide, green flames bursting out and swallowing its whiskers, Octavia stepped back in shock, gripping onto her brothers arm and trying to turn around.

It was a silly attempt to leave, she had nowhere else to go. The portal was closed, her 'healing' powers would be of no use to getting it opened anyway, it required  _dark magic_ , as Harrison told her. There was no escape. Harrison stood rooted to the spot, giving his sister's hand a reaffirming squeeze. "That is just a Snorklump, they are harmless. Mostly." 

 _Mostly_ , he says,  _they're absolutely ghastly!_  she thought inwardly to herself. If he thought that  _thing_  was harmless, then she'd be horrified with what he would call dangerous.

"I will not let any harm come your way when you are with me, sister, trust me," he said to her reassuringly and she sighed, nodding at him.

They walked together hand in hand to the kingdom's open gates, Harrison's heavy boots clinking on the cobble and walking with pride, though every step Octavia took was with extreme caution, especially after seeing that Snorklump and its fiery defense mechanisms. The guards bowed their heads to her as she walked through the gates to the bailey, the music that was being played loudly had ceased and the lively people of the kingdom, in all their loose and beautifully colored clothing, had stopped what they were doing to bow in her presence as she walked by them.

"Why are they doing that?" Octavia whispered to Harrison and his chest rumbled with laughter as he shook his head, "You're a princess, remember?" he told her and she could hardly believe it. Of course, she knew that she was a princess but it was unbelievable at the same time until everyone in front of her started to bow down to her, it was strange and she didn't feel like she would get used to it at all.

She tried her best to show thankful gestures but there were so many people they passed while she and her brother were walking too quickly towards the castle for her to show her gratitude to them all. Octavia and Harrison stopped at the stairs to the entrance of the castle, the lilac-haired girl turned around one last time to see the people standing silently and peering up at her, the gates to the kingdom closing behind them.

The heavy doors to the castle opened and they were presented with a large, ethereal foyer. Polished marble floors and a sparkling papayawhip ceiling with a giant golden chandelier piece standing out like the elephant in the room, and the stairs that lead to somewhere were brandished with thistle and golden guard rails. It was one of the first things she noticed. It'd be hard to miss. It looked undeniably beautiful. Everything here looked beautiful. 

Octavia was beginning to think that living here wouldn't be so bad.

"I think your father will be waiting for you in the throne room, I will leave you there to discuss with him what you wish−"

"Stay!" Octavia said exasperatedly, cutting him off. Stopping him mid-sentence seemed to be her niche, and she didn't think there would be any changes to that any time soon.

Harrison paused for a minute, appearing deep in thought. "If your father will allow it, I will stay."

She nodded at him, feeling numb as she could hear the heavy doors to the castle behind them swing shut. They walked out of the foyer, still hand in hand together, to the throne room. They had arrived at the tall doors to the room that her father was waiting in and Harrison stepped forward to open it. The inside of the throne room was spectacular, maroon walls lined with gold and navy trimmings and accents, although the large paintings of people and colorful scenery covered almost every inch of the wall. 

At the end of the room, stood behind a polished wooden table ladened with candelabras and books of all different colors and sizes, was her father.

Orwell.

She knew it was him, he still looked the same as he did in the photographs that her mother and grandfather had shown her except with a few more wrinkles, grey hairs, and a neat beard. He looked taller in person, she thought, and his purple eyes could be seen from a mile away.

Standing next to him was a tall brawny man in similar uniform to the me who opened the gates to the kingdom, although his had a few more embellishments, he had a sallow face and yellow dead-panned eyes, his hands behind his back and his chest pushed out, this man seemed to be her father's guardian.

"Octavia."

Her father said, turning to look at her. His eyes were wide, his mouth hung agape as he gazed at her in wonder. Octavia and Harrison walked closer to their side of the room, and her father with his guardian came to meet them halfway.

"Edward, Harrison, leave us," he said sternly and his guardian, Edward, bowed and left but Octavia cleared her throat.

"U−uh, I'd like for Harrison to stay," she said warily, looking at her father. 

"I was hoping to have a more private conversation with you, Octavia," her father said, "He can rejoin with us in a few moments, but for the meantime, I would like to exchange some words with you."

Octavia peered up to her younger brother, gripping his hand tighter then letting it go, looking to the floor. "I will be back, sister," Harrison said to her quietly before bowing his head and leaving the throne room, closing the door behind him.

Orwell guided her to a plush seat next to the wooden table, he sat across from her, taking off his crown and placing it on the table next to them. Her father sighed, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and resting his chin in his palm, "I don't know where to begin," he said calmly.

He turned his head to look at her and he studied her features for a moment, "You look just like your mother when she was your age," he said to her and a small smile graced her face. He was right, she'd often be told by family members that she was the spitting image of her mother, a perfect clone.  _"Your mother's a living printer,"_  she remembered her aunt saying, she'd always laugh when the memory came upon her.

"I know you have many questions, so ask away," he said and they fell into a silence as she racked her mind for the first thing to ask him.

"Why'd you leave?" Octavia said, breaking the silence.

He sighed again, rubbing his temples and pondering over the question. "I had to, I was always destined to return to this place, it's my home," he told her and she nodded understandingly, though she was still upset.

"You knew you were going to leave one day, so why did you start a family? Why did you even bother making connections with anyone? If you see it from my point of view then you must know it's a bit barbaric and cold to do something like that," she said in a huff, crossing her arms over her chest.

Her father's eyes fell to the floor and he appeared solemn, "It was never my intentions to do that. I just... I fell in love with your mother, and I was so close to staying on earth because of her. But I had to return home, I needed to see my family again. When I returned, my mother had passed while I was gone and my father was on his deathbed."

Octavia played with her thumbs as she listened intently to what he had to say, her eyes falling upon the watch on her wrist. Her father's watch that was gifted to him by his adoptive mother. She felt her heart wrench at the sight, tears prickling in her eyes. She felt selfish. She didn't think. Of course, he had his own family here. And they died without getting to see him grow up.

She unclipped the watch from her wrist, taking it off and offering it to Orwell. He looked at the watch and he took it out of her hands gently, staring at it with fondness. He flipped it around to see the message that was still engraved under the timepiece. "My watch... How did you?"

"Pop− Uh, I mean Philip found it at the orange mountain where the portal was," Orwell smiled at the mention of his adoptive father.

"How is he anyway? Philip and Lucile, I mean," he asked her, looking at her with a happy face but his smile left her face when a sorrowful grimace crossed her face.

"Philip's wonderful, he and his wife Delilah still live in the same house next door."

She paused and he had a look of confusion on his face.

"Delilah?"

Octavia swallowed, her body beginning to tremble.

"Lucile... Passed away when I was a baby," she said in a small voice and Orwell felt like the life was sucked out of him as soon as those words left her mouth. "Oh..." was all he managed to say, feeling a lump rise in his throat.

"I'm sorry," she said to him, putting her hand on his. He turned to her with a solemn smile, putting his other hand on top of hers and nodding at her grimly. He felt guilty that he wasn't there with his adoptive mother in her final moments. She meant a lot to him, she was a great part of his life on earth and she was the beacon of light that he could turn to in his moment of need. Orwell was well and truly grieving for this loss.

"I heard she was a lovely lady, my grandmother," Octavia said, "I've been told she was a strong and passionate person, some very envious qualities that only some could dream to possess."

He chuckled, patting her hand. "She was most definitely a strong woman, and I mean it. She punched a kangaroo in the face after it tried to kick her," this made Octavia snort and giggle. As much as she loved talking about her grandmother's fabulous memory, the young girl yearned for more information.

"I was only told about you tonight, you know?" she said, pursing her lips as she tried to configure the right things to say to him, "I mean, I knew that you were my father and all, but I never knew about your... All this," Octavia said, waving her hands and gesturing to the room she was in.

"I'm mostly upset because quite literally everyone in the family knew about it but me, I mean c'mon! I should've been brought up in your memory not having it bombarded on me all at once. So forgive me if I'm not as excited as you may have expected, this is all quite sudden and strange. Not to mention, I disliked the fantasy genre quite heavily so this isn't exactly a dream come true," Orwell frowned heavily at this, feeling let down quite a bit.

"The fantasy genre wasn't quite to my niche either... But why didn't they... I mean... Goodness, why didn't they talk about me? I don't understand, I'm your father! You're half of me, you're half of who I am and what I possess, they didn't think to even mention my origins? This isn't very good, not good at all," Orwell huffed angrily, nostrils flaring and fists clenching. "It's not fair to you and so on their behalf, I apologize."

"I don't think knowing about this any sooner would've made it easier to adjust to all this−"

"It would have been a thousand times better for you to know about all this than to not know about any of it at all! Don't you understand?"

"Okay fine, maybe I do understand that but did it ever occur to you that I may not want to rule over this kingdom? Are you so selfish to think that I wouldn't want to be at home with my mother and my step-father William?"

A look of hurt had crossed Orwell's face, she was right but the mention of her step-father, of Harrison's father, made him feel dismayed. It wasn't that his daughter wanted to be home, where she rightfully was meant to be at this moment, it's that this "William" character was with his lady.

"So that's his name," he said, nodding to himself. William. The man that took his place when he left. Orwell knew that he couldn't be mad, it was only an inevitable thing and he had no right to be upset about it, yet he still was. 

"He is a good man, there's nothing to worry about," Octavia said almost pompously with her chin raised. "I know that, Octavia... Well, I'm just glad that you have grown up in a good household," she agreed with him silently, looking to her hands in her lap.

"Harrison should have stayed on earth, father," the young girl said to Orwell, and he looked guilty. "He tells me that you used... Dark magic to open the portal, you can do that again, no?" she asked him, her head cocked to the side in waiting.

Orwell brooded over the mention of his stint in using the forbidden dark magic and felt nauseous from remembering the process and the energy it required, not only that but the damage it had caused to the portal. "It's possible, Octavia, but the portal... It's damaged, weakened, I've concluded that the next time the portal is meddled with, it will work and it will open but I fear that when it closes, it will be closed forever, destroyed in other words," he explained to her and she seemed stunned.

Octavia threw her head into her hands, breathing in deeply and brushing her short hair back with her hand. She was in a well and truly awful debacle.

"This is a dreadful thing to fawn over, it's tiring and upsetting a−and terrible and, god I don't even know!" she muttered angrily, clawing at her jean-clad thigh with her blunt fingernails in an attempt to distract herself. "I don't know what I'm doing! I'm in a foreign place, I've finally met my half-brother and my father and this place is− Jesus Christ, it's beautiful! I mean, the mountains are pink for chrissakes! And I apparently have  _powers_? Like what in the world?"

"You have powers?" her father said, ending her tirade and quickly changing the subject, he didn't want for her to be thoroughly exhausted and anxious from this admittedly strange situation she's in, he understood that it would take time for her to understand what's truly happening. 

Octavia sighed and flailed her hands in the air. "Apparently I can heal!" she said with an annoyed tone, "Well, it's not apparently, it's definitely. I healed Harrison when we came back from the portal."

Her father chuckled and slapped his knee, "Oh that portal is a real whacker!" and she smiled at his input. "A healer, aye? Haven't had one of those in a while, my grandmother was a healer. Although, not to mention it, but she also had purple hair just like you!" he quipped happily, patting his daughter's back.

"Yeah, Harrison mentioned that too," Octavia said, her mind going back to when she and her brother had been sat on her kitchen floor just discussing this and that, and the fact that her hair was like her great-grandmother's.

They fell into a comfortable silence, Octavia admiring the room they were in and taking note of the paintings and the decor. 

"My powers, I have the ability to show others my memory and I have the abilities to see theirs. If you'd like, I could show you the day that I came to earth?" Orwell offered to her and she was wide-eyed and aghast. 

"Is it like seeing everything from your point of view? Emotion and all? And... It won't make me feel sick or anything, will it?" she asked her father and he shook his head.

"It'll be like watching a movie, (oh goodness, I miss movies) except it's more immersive. I promise you that you won't feel sick or anything of the like."

She contemplated on seeing his memories, it was just so strange! But then again, she was in a strange world with strange people and strange powers and she had given up on being her true self, her true self without all the strange magic and strange origins. 

Octavia nodded, "I would like to see your memories," she told him and he had a small smile on his face.

"Very well," Orwell said to her and he raised his hands, placing each palm over her temples. In a wisp of a second, she felt her eyes close and her sense of touch had ceased, she searched wildly with her closed eyes for something to look at and in the distance she saw a light that was speeding towards her.

It was like she had gone back in time because she saw the familiar pink void of the portal.


	4. Rabbit Hole

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the wisp of her father's memory, Octavia falls up and down the familiar rabbit hole of the portal and witnesses everything through her fathers' eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unedited. Also, I wrote this flashback first and did it all from his point of view so that's how the text is written.

The last thing Orwell could remember was a hand on his back, pushing him into the portal and being embraced by swirls of blue light and a comforting coldness. He'd read about this in books written by the travelers to the foreign land they called 'earth', and the words used to describe the chilling transition were accurate.

Orwell was thrust from one end of the strange portal and out of the other, landing in a cold place in the dirt. It was dark and the sky looked different, it wasn't as bright as the night sky in his homeland but he could still see the stars, although they weren't familiar to him. Nothing from this place was familiar to him. It was terrifying.

Everything was frozen in place, dust was mid-drift in the middle of the air and the clouds in the sky weren’t moving, this was the Time-Stop and it was still in effect, the Time-Stop would only be in effect if the portal was still open. The portal! He whipped to look behind him and there stood a small, orange dirt covered mountain and what seemed to be carved into the side of it was the eye of the portal, which was shrinking quickly. "No... No!" Orwell jumped to his feet and ran to the portal but it was gone before he could reach it, his hands slamming into the dirt wall.

Orwell searched around him and picked up a rock and began to smash it into the side of the mountain where the portal was. He repeatedly bashed the rock into the dirt, only revealing the innards of the mountain which was only more bright orange dirt. Orwell was shaking with fear and rage, his hands gripping harder onto the rock as angry tears slid down his face. He was doomed.

He tried to recount what had happened.

He had been pushed into the portal, but his memory of the event was already hazy as the transition from his land to this foreign one had left him in shock.

He knew that his magical abilities will come to no avail, as he had read in the books about the earth. Throwing the rock to the ground, he attempted to bring forth fire from his hands but there was nothing, not even a spark and he blinked at the nothingness. He strained his hands further, urging his spirit and hoping for a flame to flow from his fingers. But there was nothing.

He looked back up to the sky, trying to find any familiar constellations but there was nothing he could recognize.

And finally, he knew that the portal would not open again for another 15 years.

Dropping to his knees, Orwell sobbed into his hands and screamed into the empty air, his chest heaving as he hyperventilated, he was worried and scared. What would he do? How could he get back home? Where will he go? How can he survive in this foreign land? He was already missing the adorable little star-spewing Plarlops, even those treacherous little Snorklumps. At least those little Snorklumps, with their life-threatening lava burps, would be familiar to him.

Lights began to show from behind him, he looked up to the mountain where the portal had been and saw that his shadow was being cast upon the wall, the bright orange dirt being illuminated from the strange light coming from behind him.

Orwell turned to look behind him and saw a _thing_ with two bright eyes, the things bringing forth the bright light. Something - or someone - had emerged from the side of the strange being and that thing or person was carrying a light in their hand, shining it into his face.

Orwell stumbled backward, filled with panic as he shuffled away from the thing until it had stepped in front of the light. It was a man, he wore black boots with beige pants and a dark green jacket, his shoulder-length blonde hair was concealed by the strange looking hat that he was wearing, the hat had a buckle on it.

"Hey there, chief, what do you suppose you're doing out at this time of night?" the man spoke, frightening Orwell just a bit. Orwell still couldn't see his face, the light shining on his back refused to reveal how he truly looked.

"I... I don't know, I don't know how I got here..." Orwell said. He did know how he got there, through a portal from a different land but he knew better than to reveal his true origins. After all, he was a bright kid. But even a bright kid had the urge inside himself to tell the man everything, to seek help but he had to play it safe in order to survive long enough to see the portal again.

The man swapped the light from his hand to the other, moving it around to get a better look at Orwell's face. He was a tan-skinned boy, his black hair sticking in every direction and he had the ghosts of tears on his face, his hands covered in the orange dirt. His clothes were a different story, he was wearing a white tunic top and what appeared to be brown leather pants and renaissance boots. The boy looked like he was a true blast from the past.

"Where are your parents, chief? Are you here with anyone?" the man asked warily, he could see that the boy was slowly standing up.

"No, I... I'm here by myself," Orwell said, wringing his hands together and willing himself not to cry again. In this foreign land, he truly had no one to turn to, he was missing his mother and father and the mention of them was making him feel deeply sad.

The man then nodded, the light in his hand going dark before he placed a thick baton into his utility belt, that baton must be where the light was coming from, the man then took off his hat and placed it on his chest. Walking to stand next to the young boy, he faced towards the light, this way Orwell could see him properly, and the man was a tall, fair-skinned man with a strong, lean build and a kind smile.

"Alright, lad, I'll take you back to the station so we can see about calling home for you, how does that sound?" the man placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and he could see that Orwell had a confused look on his face. He took his hand and placed the hat back on top of his head, fixing it into place.

"I'm Ranger Ridley, I'm like a guardian of this national park here," Ranger Ridley pointed to a badge over his heart that read _'Ranger Philip Ridley, Mango National Park'_. Orwell stepped forward to get a better look at it, intrigued by the way the badge looked, it looked just like the thing on the buckle of the Ranger's hat. It was nothing special, but it was the first thing of this world that seemed to have any significance to it.

"So here's what I'm going to do, I'm going to take you back to the station, we'll get you cleaned up and fed and take you back home, how does that sound?" Orwell's chest rumbled, a whimper breaking through his lips and the tears began to roll through again, he threw his head into his hands and began to howl as he wept.

The mention of a home had set the tears off, it sounded truly wonderful but it wasn't a possibility right now, he wanted to tell the kind Ranger that he _couldn't_ go back, even if he wanted. At least not right now. He'd have to wait _15 years_. The finality of it all was set into the boy's mind and he was becoming more terrified, sad and enraged at the same time. It was an awful feeling

The Ranger was taken by surprise, his eyes wide as he thought of things to do or say that may cheer him up but he was frozen on the spot. He gulped, reaching for the radio on his shoulder and he called into the station, "This is Ranger Ridley, calling in because I have a minor here, around 10 years of age and dressed like he's from the medieval times, he says he doesn't have anyone here with him and that he doesn't know how he got here so I'm going to bring him back the station, does anyone copy?" he took his finger off the talk button and waited for a response.

The radio squeaked and he heard someone coming through, "Affirmative. This is Ranger Parish, can you relay your location? Over," the ranger raised his hand to press the talk button again, "I'm approximately 5 kilometers north from the station, over," he waited again, listening to the screeching white noise coming from his radio.

"Roger that. I'll see you at the station, Ranger Ridley, this is Ranger Parish, over and out." Ranger Ridley nodded to no one, turning his attention back to the crying boy in front of him.

Ranger Ridley had never approached a stressed, sobbing, strangely dressed child on the job before, let alone at the crack of dawn and with the child knowing nothing of their whereabouts. "Hey, chief, what's your name?" he was filled with hope, praying for an answer but the boy only wailed more wiping his tears with his thin sleeves.

"Right, okay, let's hop in the truck and we'll get you to the station," Ranger Ridley said, ushering the boy to the vehicle and the look on the boy's face changed. "Tr... Truck?" he said, a quizzed look on his face and Ridley was befuddled.

"Yeah, a truck... You know, vroom vroom?" Ridley motioned his hands as though he were controlling a steering wheel, but the boy still had a look of confusion upon his face, Ridley was only relieved because the crying had stopped.

"You don't know what a truck is?" Ridley questioned the boy and he shook his head. "Hm... That's strange," he said out loud and the boy looked anxious. "Are you from an Amish community or something? That would make sense," he asked the boy but he shook his head again. Ridley thought to himself, Amish communities weren't common at all in Australia, let alone around deserted areas like this.

The Ranger hummed to himself, "If you answer the questions I have for you, I promise to answer any questions you have for me, how does that sound?" he watched as the boy considered his ultimatum, nodding in response and the Ranger quietly cheered to himself.

"Awesome, now let's get you to that station I've been telling you about."

After teaching the boy how to get into the truck and watching carefully for his reaction, which was of bewilderment and surprise, they arrived shortly at the National Park station. It was a cozy little building with a payphone on the outside and 3 other trucks parked outside, trucks similar to the one Orwell was currently sitting in.

"Tell me, how do I get out of this beast?" Orwell questioned warily, his eyes wandering over the dashboard and the framing of the vehicle, Ranger Ridley snickered and slapped his knee. "A beast? It's not a beast, it's just a mechanical wonder," Ridley opened the door and Orwell mimicked him, his fingers sliding into the door handle and pulling. The door popped open as it did for the Ranger and he stepped out, his feet landing on the concrete ground.

Orwell looked out into the dry wilderness and saw the sun rising on the horizon, it looked beautiful, the orange from the desert dirt blending well with the yellows and purples of the sky. "Come along now," Ranger Ridley called out to him and he turned to look at him. He was holding open the door to the station for him and was beckoning him forward.

Ranger Ridley followed the boy into the station, stepping around him to walk to the desk at the front where a woman sat with her wide glasses and her hands stabbing away at this board of... tiny boxes with letters on them. "Hey, Parish, I need to grab a first aid kit, can you get this kid's information? He's told me absolutely nothing so that means name, address, etcetera. I'll be back in a minute." Ranger Ridley tapped the desk and left, leaving Orwell with the lady of the front desk.

Ranger Parish was a short, red-headed woman with giant glasses and rosy cheeks. She looked like Orwell's aunt, only his aunt had lilac hair, but that didn't change the feeling in his gut of familiarity.

"Hello love, I'm Ranger Parish. Come with me." She stood from her desk, grabbing a board with paper clipped to it and she beckoned him to follow her to a separate room with a table and a few chairs. Orwell sat next to her and she placed the board in front of them.

The only questions he managed to answer for her was that his name was Orwell, that he was male and that he was 10 years of age.

"Thank you, Orwell. Now I just have a few more questions, nothing too scary," she smiled warmly at him and he was comforted more, he was tempted to tell her everything but these people knew nothing of his kind and he was afraid that telling her the whole truth would get him into a bad place.

She cleared her throat, "Alright, this is the last question. Do you have anything to declare while you are here with us now at the Mango National Park station?" Parish looked at him, awaiting a response and Orwell looked at the table thinking of something to say.

"No." He said to her with certainty, his hands clasped together in his lap as he stared at the top of the wooden table.

"Okay, Orwell, thank you very much for your patience, Ranger Ridley will be with you shortly." He nodded at her as she left the room, leaving him to himself. He was wondering what was going to happen after this. He wondered if the kind blonde man was going to put him into his truck and take him back to the mountainside to leave him there forever where he could wait for the portal to reopen. He wondered if he could stay with the Parish woman, she sounded nice and comforting and her presence reminded him so of his aunt Meredith. He wondered if the portal was open and he was here in this station like an idiot. That last thought made him feel sick.

Right then, Ranger Ridley stepped into the room with a white box, a bright red cross on it and he placed it on the table, sitting in the chair where Ranger Parish was sitting in just before.

"Alright, let's get these hands cleaned." Ridley opened the box and pulled a packet of cleansing wipes out of them and Orwell splayed his hands out, his dirt covered palms facing up for the Ranger to clean. Small cuts were spotted on his fingers and they were cleaned and covered with small, circular band-aids.

Ranger Parish came back into the room with the clipboard and she handed it to Ranger Ridley who took it from her with a kind smile. The Ranger read it over swiftly, Orwell looking at his speeding eyes, his face displaying emotions mixed with bafflement and astonishment, then confusion quickly graced the Ranger's features.

Riddle clicked his tongue, humming, "So where do you live? Canberra? Sydney?" the names of those locations didn't sound familiar to Orwell at all, they must be names of earth places, he thought. Orwell shook his head and the Ranger suddenly looked sullen.

"Just to reassure you, you can tell me anything. Nothing bad will happen to you, you're safe here, you just need to tell me everything you know so that we can try to help you to the best of our abilities," Ranger Riddle said with solace, and this made Orwell feel safe but although he had trust in this man, he simply couldn't tell him the truth. He couldn't bring himself to lie to the man either so he decided not to tell him anything.

Ranger Ridley sighed, placing the clipboard back on the table and leaning his elbows onto his knees. "Do you have a home?" he asked, anticipating an answer along the lines of 'Yeah I do, actually, it's not too far from here' and that way he can take this kid back home to his parents and then he can be over and done with his shift and surprise his wife Lucile with a nice breakfast. Although that wouldn't be happening on this strange morning as Orwell shook his head again.

"No."

Ridley breathed out, his eyebrows furrowing at the boy before him. "Where did you come from? How did you get to the park?" he questioned the boy, he was beyond confused.

He saw Orwell gulp, the boy was clearly nervous.

"I can't tell you..."

"You can, you just won't. Just a friendly reminder, you're safe here. No one can get to you here." Ranger Ridley reassured him.

Orwell sniffled, "I _know_ that. But that's not what I want. I _want_ someone to get to me, I want my mother and my father!" the boy began to sob into his hands again, Ridley shuffled his chair closer and patted the boys back.

"Well we can try to help you, we just need to know where your parents are or where you live. But if you don't know, we can call the local police stations and have them send out amber alerts - " Orwell stopped him, slamming his fists on the table in front of them.

"No! I can't tell you that, I'm not supposed to say," he shouted, a silence then fell upon them. Orwell slowly slid his hands off the table, clasping them together in his lap.

"Why not?" Ridley asked, and Orwell looked at his feet.

The boy scoffed, "You wouldn't believe me even if I told you." he said to him in a low whisper but the station was dead quiet, every word the boy said seemed like it was echoing off the empty walls.

Ridley inhaled deeply and breathed out slowly, "Try me." he challenged the boy. He was beginning to think the boy was... Special. Special children tended to make up these fantasy worlds and perhaps this boy got lost in it.

"I'm not from this world," Orwell murmured.

"Oh really? And what world are you from?" Ranger Ridley asked, leaning his chin into his palm and tilting his head in interest.

The young boy huffed, turning to Ranger Ridley with his chest puffed out and a look of determination on his face. "I am Orwell Vulpecula the third, Prince of Vecurilia and heir to the throne," he spoke with confidence, his determined demeanor faltering only slightly which was understandable, he was a young boy after all.

"Vecu - what?! Boy, I'm not here to play games. You're here in _Australia_ , I've studied the geography of this country for 8 years and I'm sure I can pinpoint any town or city if you'd just mention the name, you just have to tell me the truth," Ranger Ridley said with a 'matter-of-fact' tone and it angered Orwell.

"I _am_ telling the truth, see? I told you that you wouldn't believe me." he angrily muttered, sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm a prince, I can't believe I'm being treated like this. This realm sucks too, I can't even use my powers here." the mentions of his supposed magical abilities almost made Ranger Ridley want to laugh but he tried to stay professional.

"Orwell, I need you to understand that I'm trying to help but you're not making it easy with your stories - " Orwell had interrupted him again for the second time, "How do you think I ended up in that desert?" he quipped, catching the Ranger off guard.

"I - I don't know, maybe you ran away from home and you walked out there by yourself, a dangerous thing to do I'll tell you, and my job is to help you to get back home - " Orwell growled in frustration, bringing his hands to his hair and tugging at it.

He huffed angrily, "You want to help get me back home? You'll have to wait 15 years," Orwell snarled. The young boy surely had a fiery spirit and an arrogant attitude.

"15 years? _15 years?_ Why on earth do you have to wait _15 years?_ " Ranger Ridley said with absolute bewilderment, his patience growing low with this boy and his make-believe nonsense.

"You'd hate me even if I told you about it, Ranger, " Orwell said with disappointment and suddenly the Ranger's attitude softened.

He let out a deep breath and shook his head. "I wouldn't hate you, Orwell, it's just that none of the information you've given to us is very helpful. We're trying to get you back home but... It just seems like it won't be very easy." Orwell nodded, his eyes on his knees.

"Look at me," the Ranger told Orwell and the boy shifted in his seat to look him in the eyes, the young boys' eyes caught the Ranger off guard for a second before he continued, "and speak to me honestly. Was that _really_ the truth?" Ranger Ridley looked further into the boys' eyes and he gasped, moving back.

"I am. I'm telling the truth," the boy said and Ranger Ridley was speechless. The boys' eyes had given it away, a deep purple? It was unnatural in the least, he'd never heard of someone with purple eyes before. "Your... Your eyes, t - they're purple..." he said breathlessly.

"Yeah? So?" Orwell said, shrugging. He didn't know of the significance of his traits, purple eyes being a normality in his world.

"You're telling the truth?"

"Yes!" Orwell exclaimed, eyeing the Ranger suspiciously. "What?" he asked anxiously, worried that he'd made the earthman go crazy from his exclamations.

"Your eyes... They're not _normal_ ," the Ranger said quietly, moving his head around to get a better look at the boy's strange eye color in the weak light. He eventually grabbed his torch from his utility belt, turning it on in the boy's eyes which made him squint at first but he kept them open so that Ranger Ridley could see them better.

"My God... You really are telling the truth," he was truly speechless. This boy, this curious boy in front of him, was surely not of this world. Especially with those peculiar eyes.

A silence fell upon them as they continued to look into each other's eyes. Orwell saw that Ridley's eyes were... Well, they were brown. He'd never seen that before and it amazed him. In his world, everyone’s eye colors were purple, yellow and orange so witnessing this new eye color at this moment was astonishing.

Then suddenly the worst of thoughts came into the Ranger's mind, what would he do with this boy? The boy didn't have a home here, no family or any guardians, _obviously_. He wasn't sure what to do. Ideally, the Ranger himself could take the boy in and care for him but what would he say? What kind of befuddled story did he have to come up with to convince everyone that this boy was an orphan? Perhaps he was thinking too deeply.

"This place you speak of, Vec... Vecu-rill-ie?"

"Vecurilia,"

"Right, Vecurilia... Where is that?" Orwell peered out the window from behind them and he looked into the sky.

"I'm not sure where Vecurilia is from your skies, but from our skies, this planet is left of Orion's belt," he said to the Ranger, his eyes searching the skies to see if he can spot his planet.

Ranger Ridley peered out the window too, his eyes scanning over the endless amount of stars in the purple and yellow dyed sky. After another moment of comfortable silence, Ranger Parish came into the room with a tray of hot chocolates and cookies. They thanked her and she left the room silently.

"You know, chief, I'm not entirely sure what to do with you," the Ranger admitted solemnly, the boy appeared sad as he chewed quietly on his cookie.

"A kid from out of nowhere, showing up at my park at the crack of dawn barely knowing anything about himself... Surely there'll be no record of you anywhere and the circumstances seem suspicious, the police will go wild..." Ranger Ridley spoke, momentarily sipping at his hot chocolate drink, "But if you're okay with it, I guess I can take you in for now until I can help to find a new home for you," Orwell looked up at him with his purple eyes, shining with hope.

"My wife, I don't know how she'll take it but I think she'll be okay with it for a short while until we can help to get you somewhere new," the young boy nodded at him, taking another bite of his cookie and sipping at his hot and sweet drink, "The technicalities are going to be a bloody pain in the ars - excuse me, it's going to be very difficult to get through." Orwell snickered quietly, listening intently to the soft-spoken man.

The Ranger sighed deeply, "This is the strangest thing I've come across in my 7 years here at Mango National Park." he looked down at the boy next to him, his strange clothing and his eyes alone would raise a lot of questions.

"Tell me everything, I promise to keep it all a secret."

"Promise?"

"Promise." Ranger Ridley traced a cross over his heart.

Orwell was tired, drained. He'd lost any reason to conceal anything any more. 15 years was a long way away, a long time to keep a secret.

And as the sun rose higher above the horizon, its warm glow breaching through the window behind them and embracing them both, Ranger Ridley listened intently to everything the boy had to tell him. He told him in great detail how his world existed millions of light years away and that their worlds were connected by a portal that opened every 15 years. Orwell continued to tell the Ranger about his whole royal family and their extensive history.

The young boy became excited as he spoke of the mystical creatures they owned such as the fire-burping Snorklump and the star-spewing Plarlop. _'Treacherous things, those Snorklumps, one of them set my brother's bed on fire.'_ he recalled, remembering the boy saying it with a snort. Everything Orwell was saying seemed like it was straight out of a book but it was all real, Octavia had experienced it all first hand, she was almost in disbelief from seeing all the things that he had been through.

A young boy thrust into a new world with little to no knowledge of his new surroundings. Seeing her grandfather so young, seeing the differences between the orange mountain from then to today.

Octavia could feel her fathers hands releasing his hold on her head and she was warped from his memories.


End file.
